Nott a Granger?
by zyxw
Summary: The war ended during Hermione's 6th year with the help of 3 double agents & minimal casualties for the Order. Hermione is loooking forward to a summer with her parents but the night before she leaves school Sirius gives her some disturbing news.
1. Chapter 1

"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't quite understand. Why will I not be permitted to return home this summer?" Hermione had been called into the headmaster's office to discuss her summer plans after dinner. She would be boarding the Hogwarts Express in the morning and in the two previous years this wouldn't be a strange occurrence. In the years before the Order and the DA defeated Voldemort, it was very common that the entire Golden Trio, along with Ginny, Luna, and Neville would be called into the office of some staff member in the evenings to strategize or discuss their summer training regimen.

She'd become accustom to being unable to return home on breaks because of all of the planning and training. If she was able to return home it was one week at the most before an Order member showed up in the fireplace to whisk her away. She'd been looking forward to spending time with her parents. He grandmother was coming for a visit and the last week of June was to be spent at a large family reunion in Wales. Plus she had a mother-daughter trip planned to Paris in July. Harry was to stay with them the month of August. She wasn't going to go to the Burrow or Grimauld Place. Most of the summer before her seventh year would be spent at home. To hear that she wouldn't be able to return home on the first school break since Voldemort's defeat was crushing.

It was only the most recent school break for Easter that they'd finished the job. Ginny, Luna, and Neville had been captured on a fact-finding mission they'd been sent on by the DA. When the Golden Trio and a few Order members, including Sirius, Remus, Tonks, and all seven of the remaining Weasleys, went to rescue the three they were also captured. To their surprise, however, they'd been released inside of Malfoy Manor by Theodore Nott and his parents. Together all of them not only saved the original hostages but set a trap for Voldemort. The final battle took place in the Malfoy's ballroom with sixteen Order and DA members, twenty Death Eaters, and three double agents. None of the Death Eaters survived. Two Order members, Remus and Tonks, didn't make it. Two days later they were buried and another two after that the teens all returned to school to finish out the term with much fanfare by their peers but no special treatment from the professors. Theodore—who asked his new-found friends to call him Theo because Theodore is his father—had to be moved to private quarters for his own protection.

"Hermione," Professor McGonagall soothed, "this may be hard for you to hear. You are not who you think you are. You are not a Granger."

"What do you mean, Professor? Of course I'm a Granger. My parents would have told me if I was adopted!"

"That's just the thing, dear. You aren't adopted either. You were kidnapped as a baby." Hermione wanted to leave, to protest, to do something, but she could only sit there. "The Grangers tried for years to have a child of their own but they weren't able to conceive. Then one day, they were in a shopping center and happened upon a couple with twins. Your mother had always dreamed of having a daughter so they took you."

"That can't be true! You can't be correct!" Hermione yelled, tears rolling down her face.

"I'm afraid, Ms. Granger, that it is true. You see, your parents were from a well-respected pure-blood wizarding family. Tests have been done, both muggle and magic." He handed her a computer-generated paper and a hand-written scroll.

Her eyes widened in disbelief. "This can't be true," she whispered.

"It is, though, 'Mione," Sirius, who had been sitting quietly in a corner this whole time, told her. "Theodore and Kathy Nott are your parents. I had my suspicions from the first time that I saw you but I figured with them switching sides the way that they did when you were taken it would be safer to keep it to myself. But when they saw you in the Prophet during the Tri-Wizard Tournament they started to wonder."

"What do you mean 'switching sides'?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Nott were members of the Order," her head of house answered. "When you are kidnapped and couldn't be found in the wizarding world we all knew if must be one of two things. You were killed by a Death Eater as a warning for them to stay in line or you were taken by muggles."

"Either way, it ended the same," Sirius added. "They left the Order and joined up with his parents, became Death Eaters."

"So, Theo?"

"He's your twin brother," Dumbledore answered.

"And my parents?"

"That is a sensitive manner. Obviously our world has many laws about dealings with muggles so your things have been removed and their memories have been wiped of all traces of you. They were given two dogs and are devoted to them completely. There will be no further action taken against them."

"And that's a whole lot more than they deserve," Sirius barked, earning him a glare from Hermione.

"HOW DARE YOU!"

"How dare I? Well, I'll tell you. I dare very easily-" Sirius was in full rant mode at this point and as a pre-emptive move McGonagall took him from the room.

"The Notts will pick you up from the train station tomorrow," Dumbledore told her with a sympathetic smile. "You can speak with Theo about where you will meet them. I truly am sorry to have to tell you all of this, Hermione. I know you love your parents very much and looked forward to spending a care-free summer with them. You deserve it really. You've fought long and hard for it."

Without another word, Hermione rose from her chair and left the office in a daze. That is until she saw Sirius arguing with the fat lady, trying to get into the common room.

a/n: So a few weighed in and said they wanted the Hermione/Blaise pairing first. Here it is. It'll take a few chapters for him to show up though. Review please.


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione had gone for a long walk around the grounds and returned two hours after the meeting and thirty minutes past curfew.

She muttered the password and hit Sirius with her shoulder on the way past, unsteadying him slightly and surprising him immensely. She was very strong for her small size. "I imagine you'll want me to retrieve Harry for you?" she asked without turning around.

"If you feel you need him. I actually am here to speak with you." She stopped but didn't turn. "What I said earlier was out of line, but I think if you'd let me explain, you'll understand."

She walked through the door that blocked the dormitory staircases from view of the common room. Sirius stood still a moment hoping she'd return and had finally given up and turned to leave when he heard Harry's protests. "Mione, exams are over. Why are you waking me up in the middle of the night? Just relax and leave the studying for a week or so, please!"

Harry didn't even notice his godfather when he entered the common room. He didn't even seem to have his eyes open. Hermione just dragged him through the room to the couches and sat him down next to her.

With a sigh of relief, Sirius joined them and sat facing them in an armchair.

"Well, explain then!" she ordered. "Why would I need Harry?"

"I just thought you'd want him around. Besides, this does concern him."

Harry's eyes shot open and a smile spread across his face. "Sirius!" It was obvious that he wanted to say more but he opted not to when he saw the intense staring match between his best friend and godfather.

"Well?" Hermione prompted.

"Mione, there's a reason that I knew it was you the first time I saw you."

"Knew what was her exactly?" Harry asked but was ignored.

"You see, 'Mione, there were five Marauders and James, well, he wasn't an only child," Sirius replied, looking her square in the eyes to show he wasn't lying. "And I believe there is a bigger reason why you and Harry have gotten to be such good friends."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, confused.

"Harry," Sirius acknowledged his godson for the first time that night, "Your father had a twin sister. Her name is Kathy and she is still alive."

"And she's the fifth Marauder? Splendid! When can I meet her?"

"There's more," Sirius answered before turning back to Hermione, "and she wasn't the fifth Marauder. His name was Theodore Nott and he's my cousin."

"So, Harry and I…" Hermione trailed off.

"Are cousins. Theodore and Kathy were put in Gryffindor along with me first year. We were inseparable, all six of us, right up until the day that you were taken. James, Peter, Remus, and I searched for months but Theodore and Kathy gave up hope that you were even taken by a wizard. When they decided muggles were to blame, well, like Dumbledore already said, they joined the rest of my family. They followed Voldemort."

"Why weren't we told about this earlier?" Harry accused. "You lied to us!"

"We thought it was best. We thought it was what James would want. He was heartbroken when Anna joined Voldemort. He said he'd never forgive her. She was dead to him. Other things that I know he'd never follow through with if he'd lived but we all thought we were protecting you, Harry!" Angry with his godfather Harry stormed back through the door to the stairs. Sirius looked unsure a moment then decided, "I'll straighten him out later."

"And when you knew it was me? Why didn't you tell us then?" Hermione asked looking less angry and more hurt with a little confusion mixed in.

"I wanted to protect you, too, 'Mione. By then it didn't matter who your parents were, the wizarding world saw you as Harry Potter's muggle-born best friend. If they found out who you really were, there was a chance both sides would turn against you. I made the same promise to protect you as I did Harry, 'Mione. You're my goddaughter. Even if I could never tell you why, I had to look after you."

They were silent for a long time until Hermione asked, "Sirius, what's my name?"

"Elizabeth Nicole Nott." She nodded but stayed silent staring out the window. "Are you going to ask the other question?" She shook her head. "I'll just tell you then. When they saw your picture in the Prophet, they contacted Dumbledore. The whole family went double agent but didn't tell him why until after the final battle. Theo said he felt a connection to you in first year but was afraid to tell anyone. Thought he'd be punished."

"Did they ever…kill?"

"Not an innocent person," Sirius answered, moving to the couch and putting his arm around her. "They killed Death Eaters in their Order days and in the final battle, but that's it."

"You're sure?"

"Veritaserum. Dumbledore used it on Theodore regularly to make sure he was really working for us."

"Sirius?"

"Yes?"

"I'm scared," she told him with tears in her eyes.

"I'll be there every step of the way, 'Mione. We've talked about it and we're going to work out a living situation to make you comfortable. We'll figure it all out together tomorrow."

"Thank you."

With a final squeeze of her hand, he stood. "Anytime. Now, off to bed."

As Hermione walked through the door to the staircases again, she saw Harry sitting with his back against the wall. "Listening in?"

He nodded.

a/n: Review! I'll post more tomorrow hopefully!


	3. Chapter 3

"We'll catch up, Ron," Harry told his friend who was getting very aggravated with his slow pace. "Mione and I need to talk."

Just then, Lavender walked past and Ron's attention was diverted from his friends. They had just boarded the train and Harry and Hermione wanted to find a compartment alone to talk then they would owl Theo and tell him where to meet them. Though Ron was making an effort to be polite to the Slytherin, they weren't sure how he was going to react to this latest development and wanted to figure out the best way to break the news.

They were reaching the end of the train when Harry grabbed Hermione's hand to stop her. When she turned to see what was the matter he motioned toward an almost-empty compartment with his head. Sitting alone, staring out the window was Theo. With a steadying breath and a shaking hand Hermione pushed the door open and sat across from her brother. Harry took the seat next to her without releasing her hand.

Theo looked up when they walked in but didn't say anything to either of them. For a while all anyone did was stare, then, "well, um, where will we be meeting your parents?"

"They'll meet us on the other side of the barrier," Theo answered Harry. "Dumbledore thought that it would cause a commotion for Hermione to be seen leaving with us so Sirius will walk both of you out and we'll all leave from there."

Harry and Hermione both nodded in response. Very little was said for the rest of the trip. Ginny and Neville stopped in to see their friends once but were promptly told to leave by Luna who informed them, "They obviously don't want to be bothered. They're just too nice to say it."

Toward the end of the trip Vincent Crabbe opened the sliding door and stepped in to the compartment. "Mudblood. Blood traitor. Stupid," he said, before huffing and leaving again.

"He's not too bright," Theo told them with a small laugh.

"Loads smarter than we thought," Hermione replied.

"Yeah," Harry agreed, "up until now we didn't think he could even speak." The three teens erupted in laughter as the train slowed to a stop.

They were still laughing as they exited the train, all dragging their trunks behind them. Harry still held tightly to Hermione's hand. Seeing Sirius standing close to the barrier, Hermione dropped Harry's hand and ran toward him, stopping just short of throwing her arms around his neck the way she'd done just the night before on seeing him in Dumbledore's office.

"You know, 'Mione," he told her, "things don't have to change now just because you know the truth."

"But everything has changed, hasn't it Sirius?" Harry asked, catching up to them and glaring at his godfather. "Are you to escort me back to the Dursley's after Hermione's settled then?"

"You're never going back there," Sirius replied, hugging his godson, who did not return it. "You don't need the blood protection any longer and I've been completely cleared by the ministry. I promised you three years ago that you could stay with me." This brought a small smile to both Harry's and Hermione's faces. "Now, off we go," Sirius continued. "The Weasleys have been informed of what's going on and said they'd try to keep the reporters back for a while but it looks as though a few are growing tired." He looked over their heads to a line of red-heads making a futile attempt to keep a hoard of witches and wizards wielding notepads and cameras back. "I dare say between the four of us, the Prophet has years' worth of material."

Walking through the barrier together, Hermione and Harry were immediately engulfed in tight hugs. Hermione was being held by Theodore while Annabelle squeezed Harry tightly. When they were finally released, Hermione was passed to her mother while Theo was hugged by his father.

"Don't mean to break up the beautiful family reunion," Sirius told them, "but I suspect we should be going soon if we don't want to draw any attention."

a/n: I must say I'm not feeling the love so much on this story as I have with others. Hopefully I'll get some reviews soon or I might have to put this on hold…


	4. Chapter 4

Feeling the now familiar pull of apparation Hermione opened her eyes moments later. It wasn't what she expected. The Notts were known to be one of the richest families in the magical world, even more now that the Malfoys were all in Azkaban and lost their fortunes. The house wasn't small but it wasn't big either. It looked only slightly larger than the house she'd grown up in but the yard was much bigger than theirs was.

It was painted white with pale green shutters and looked to be two stories. There was a large porch that wrapped around the house on both sides and she assumed it continued all of the way around. It looked quaint and cozy and as she took it all in, Hermione thought that maybe she could be comfortable here with some help. Though she loved her parents more than anything in this life she didn't feel very comfortable living with so many muggle neighbors so close by. The Nott home was on five beautiful, tree-filled acres with an open field in the back where Theo once told her that he liked to practice quidditch. The privacy (from muggles) that they would receive here would be similar to the way it was at the Weasleys but with only the four of them staying there she may be able to receive some privacy inside as well—something that the Burrow severely lacked.

She slowly followed them up the walk and into the house.

"How do you feel about Asian food?" Annabelle Nott asked once inside. Hermione looked at her confused. "We normally take Theo out to eat in Diagon Alley for dinner after we leave the station but considering the circumstances I thought we could just order in for tonight. We can phone something in and pick it up in the muggle town nearby if that's alright with everyone?"

The all nodded and Hermione answered that she loved Thai food.

"Especially sticky rice," Harry added for her and she let out a small giggle which Harry and Sirius joined in on and soon all three had erupted in fits of laughter that had them leaning on each other for support and left the Notts looking quite confused.

"We had a little food fight when she visited last summer," Sirius enlightened them. "Mione and I were picking sticky rice out of our hair for two days after. It got all over the walls and furniture. They're usually much better behaved. I don't know what got into them that night."

"I think it may have been my Godfather hollering 'food fight' and flinging an entire plate of cashew guy in my face," Harry defended, still laughing.

"Yes, Theodore and I have experienced a few meals with Sirius in our day as well. He definitely keeps you on your toes," Annabelle replied before adding, "I'll just be off then and Theodore can show you around."

"Thank you, Mrs. Nott," Hermione and Harry answered, showing that they did indeed have manners.

Annabelle looked at them both with a sad smile. "You're welcome dears," she finally told them before she left with a small wave.

"I guess we should start with the upstairs then," Mr. Nott told them. "You three can put your things in your rooms."

As they walked up the flight of stairs Harry and Hermione couldn't help but notice the many pictures that lined the wall. Most were of Theo or family portraits but some depicted a girl that looked very similar to Hermione with a boy they both knew as James Potter. Some were of the Marauders in their younger days. Some even depicted a baby Harry waving at them. There were many of Hermione and Theo as babies as well.

"Thank you," Hermione replied as she looked around the room. The walls were bare and painted beige and the floor was a dark oak. There was a pink rug in the middle of the room that she scowled at before turning to the furniture. Hermione hated the color pink. The furniture must have come in a set because the queen sized bed's frame was made of the same wood as the two bedside tables, the dresser, the desk and the two book shelves. The room was large enough to fit the furniture comfortably but not overly large. There was a door on the left wall and a large window in the center of the opposite wall that overlooked the front yard. Sadly the bedspread and curtains were the same pink as the rug. "It's very nice. Maybe I'll just change the color scheme a little?"

Theodore laughed. "I never understood your mother's appeal to pink myself. It's such a soft color for such a strong woman. You didn't like it even as a baby. Like I said though, you can make any changes you want." He put her things down and they all left the room. "The next door down is the guest room. Theo's room is directly across from yours," he continued looking at Hermione as he gestured toward each door. "The loo is next and the last room belongs to a friend of Theo's who visits often." The hall was also lined with many family photos.

They continued down stairs where Theodore showed them the family room, dining room, kitchen, restroom, and his room before taking them to a door in the kitchen. Once opened it revealed another flight of stairs, this one going down. In the Nott house this was the recreational area. At the bottom of the stairs was a long hall with four doors. Opening each he showed them a ballroom, home gym, home theatre, and what used to be Theo's play room but now just held storage.

By the time they returned upstairs, Theo had set the table and Kathy was back with the food so they all sat down for dinner. Hermione was quiet through most of the meal. Harry sat by her side and tried to coax her to eat "just a little more" every other minute. He also tried to strike up a conversation between the two of them and Theo which ended up being mostly him talking with Theo adding a few things every once in a while. The adults talked about old times as original Order members and the many friends they'd lost. Theodore and Kathy filled Sirius in on everything that happened in their lives while he was imprisoned and Sirius enjoyed the conversation with someone other than himself or the Weasleys, whom he loved dearly but when you hear the same things every night it gets rather dull.

As the freshly made coconut ice cream was passed around for dessert, Theodore cleared his throat to get the attention of the three teens. "I think we should go over the rules. There aren't many really. We would like to know where you are going when you leave and an estimated return time. If your plans change please inform us as soon as possible." Hermione nodded, knowing that these rules were only for her benefit. "If you have a boy in your room, other than Theo or Harry, the door is to remain open. If you would like to stay at Sirius's house, that will be fine but once again we need to know where you are and if you could tell us in advance that would be nice. Also, no boy is to stay the night in your room. Again the exceptions are Harry and Theo. Are those agreeable?"

"Yes, sir," Hermione answered with a smile. The Grangers were very strict in their home. She had a curfew of sunset and no boys were allowed over, ever. She'd had to lie to them in order to stay at the burrow. She told them Harry was never there and that she and Ron weren't even friends. "I have one question though."

"Yes dear?" Kathy asked.

"What do I call you?" She immediately regretted her words as she looked around the table and saw the hurt in four sets of eyes. Harry bit his lip as he too noticed this.

"Theodore and Kathy will be fine," Theodore answered, "that is, until you are comfortable with mum and dad. The same can be said for you Harry. If you're uncomfortable calling us aunt and uncle as I assume you would be considering your past."

"Thank you," they both whispered in unison.

"We've discussed everything with Sirius," Kathy continued. "He's offered some very good insight seeing as he's known you for so long. As your father said, you are welcome to stay there whenever you like. We do ask that for the first week or so that you try to spend nights here. Harry is welcome to stay as well. Sirius actually suggested it for a while until you get used to things here."

Harry nodded. "I think I'd like that," he told them.

"The guest room is yours then, Harry," Kathy turned to her nephew. "You may change it or decorate it however you like. Sirius informed us of your former living situation. We'd like you to feel at home here, even though Grimmauld Place will be your permanent home."

"Thank you," Harry replied with a genuine smile.

a/n: When I started writing this story months ago Annabelle was going to be Mrs. Nott's name. Then I realized that I had already name Hermione/Allison's mother Annabelle in Secrets Left Behind and didn't want them to be the same name. I thought I fixed it in this story but it was pointed out to me that I left one in the last chapter. Hopefully I got them all in this chapter but if not then for sure in the rest of the story as I wrote that after I had my realization. Sorry for any confusion. Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Harry was walking past his best friend and newly discovered cousin's bedroom door at three in the morning. He'd been up to use the loo and was on his way back to his room when he heard sniffling coming from behind her door. They'd been at the Nott's house for three days now and she'd spent much of her time alone in her room or sitting in a tree in the garden reading. He knew that she was trying to be social. He knew that she was trying to please everyone. Though a closet rebel, Harry Potter knew his best friend to be a true people pleaser at heart. She'd done it with the Grangers, the Weasleys, everyone in Gryffindor house who wanted her to be the perfect Gryffindor princess, all of her professors.

He knew that in her whole life there were only two people that Hermione never worried about being perfect for—himself and Sirius. It wasn't that she didn't care to please them or even that she hadn't tried at first. The simple truth of the matter was that Hermione never had to work to please them. They loved her simply for who she was and she knew it. It took her a while to believe it but once she did, things were much simpler for them all.

Harry knocked on her door and immediately heard big sniffles, the tail tell sign that she was now wiping her eyes and trying to hide her tears. "It's just me 'Mione," he whispered as he entered the room.

"Oh," was her only replied as she attempted to quickly shove something into her nightstand drawer.

Too slow. He managed to still her hand in time to pull the picture she was obviously crying over out of the drawer. The Grangers. He took many deep breathes trying to control his own anger. Though Harry knew that Hermione would always love him no matter what, this was dangerous territory. He was the only person in the house—and Sirius had taken to sleeping on the couch in her room in his Padfoot form—that could get her to eat or smile or talk. He didn't want to jeopardize that.

"It's alright to miss them," he finally told her. He didn't fully believe that but he'd consulted the three females that Hermione trusted most for advice. Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, and Luna. He was having trouble finding words to comfort her because all he could think of was how different life would have been if the Grangers hadn't abducted her all those years ago. How different it would've been for both of them. Maybe somehow his parent's deaths could be prevented and Sirius's incarceration. And even if those things couldn't be prevented he could have had a loving supportive home to grow up in with an aunt and uncle that fed him healthy portions and bought him clothes that fit and cousins that didn't use him as a personal punching bag. And maybe Hermione wouldn't be so scared of rejection that she couldn't show the world her true self and had ulcers by eleven (probably earlier but he didn't know her back then…because of the Grangers).

"You don't really believe that though," she told him. She could always tell when he was lying.

"No," he answered simply, "but I believe you need to believe that."

"I don't know what to do here," she whispered, picking at her nails—another of her nervous habits.

"Be yourself," he told her. "Your real self. The self that even the Weasleys and Luna don't see. The one that only Sirius and I see. With the food fights and jumping around on the bed dancing to the Weird Sisters. Somehow I get the feeling that they'll love you for it."

"No one else ever did," she replied with tears in her eyes again.

He knew who she was referring to. "No one else doesn't matter anymore," he finally told her, throwing his cards on the table. If she got angry, she got angry. She never stayed that way long, especially with him.

She didn't even respond.

"What matters now are the people in this house," he continued. "What matters is the six of us getting to know each other as a family. I love you, 'Mione. You're my very best friend. I hate to see you hurting but you can't push the Notts away. It's not their fault that you're hurting now."

"I know," she whispered back, "but it's so much easier to be upset with the people I barely know than with the people who raised me."

"Believe me, I know the feeling," Harry replied, sitting on her bed and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Maybe you need to talk to someone."

"Like a psychiatrist?" Hermione asked in a sarcastic tone that Harry knew to mean I'm not crazy Potter.

"A healer," Harry corrected. "One who specializes in trauma. It could do you some good."

"I'm not crazy, Potter!" she actually said it out loud this time.

"I'm not saying you are," he laughed. "Hell, I don't think that I'm crazy either but I saw one and it helped. It helped a lot. I still go to her once a month."

"When?"

"Every third Wednesday afternoon," he answered.

"I meant when did you start seeing her," Hermione corrected.

"First year," he answered. "I saw her three times a week at Dumbledore's request. Even though I knew that the Dursleys were horrible to me, I couldn't bring myself to see them as the bad people they were. I was angry and scared and completely dependent on them all at once. It helped me straighten things out. Then after Sirius came along third year and I spent all that time hating him for thinking he killed my parents and he turned out to be my godfather. It was confusing and scary and I just couldn't deal with it. I actually have an appointment to see her next week when I go back to Grimmauld Place. I can get a referral for you."

"But it's not like that for me-"

"Really?" he contradicted. "You were in the ministry battle just over a year ago and on the opposing side was the man that you just found out is your father. He's only my uncle and I'm having trouble with it. Please, 'Mione! You're already making yourself sick and no one knows what to do for you anymore. Not even me and I've never not known how to help you in the six years we've been friends. You're scaring me! And you can't go back to the Grangers. I know it hurts and you're sad but you can't! There's no changing it. They won't have any idea who you are! And if I could erase them from your memory to make you happy I would but then I'd erase everything and I couldn't do that to you! Please!" he was pleading and crying by the end of it.

"Fine," she reluctantly agreed. They talked for a few more minutes before she yawned and he hugged her goodnight.

a/n: Someone told me from the last chapter they could see how Blaise would fit into the story. Could that same person tell me how because to be honest it's been a while since I wrote that chapter so I really can't remember. I'll try to update again tomorrow but I'm going on a trip that night and don't know when I'll be able to update again after that. Review & I'll keep working on it. Thanks!

Also to the review who said it would be easier if I only referred to the dad as Theodore & the son as Theo, that's exactly what I'm doing. If I say Theo it's the son. If I say Theodore it's the father. EVERYTIME!


	6. Chapter 6

Dear Romilda,

Shut up. Many people do like this story line & this story so far. If you don't, don't read it. "Simple as that!"

Now on with the story for those of you my readers who aren't total jerks!

"That was inspiring stuff last night," Sirius told Harry the following morning as the two of them joined the Notts in the dining room for breakfast.

"You heard that?"

"I sleep on her couch," Sirius reminded him. "And to be completely honest I barely sleep at all."

"Think it'll make any difference?" Harry asked as the door creaked open behind them. Turning he couldn't help the large smile that grew on his face.

Hermione had just entered the room wearing faded jeans and a worn Ramones tee-shirt that had belonged to Sirius in his youth. She'd expressed her admiration for his collection of sixties, seventies, and very early eighties muggle rock and punk band shirts two summers before when she first stayed at Grimmauld Place. As a Christmas present that same year, he'd shrunk and gift wrapped them for her. The Weasleys had laughed at the idea of Hermione wearing them when she'd opened the box on Christmas morning. But she did wear them. She kept them at Grimmauld Place up until Sirius had come two nights earlier, knowing that the Grangers would throw them out if they saw them, and wore them when just the three of them were around.

"Nice shirt," Theodore commented when his daughter entered the room. "I love the Ramones. I think I got one just like that for Sirius when we were younger."

"You did," Sirius replied as Hermione took her seat between Harry and Theo. "Gave her my whole collection a couple years ago." He mocked a pouty face.

"I'm sure that must've been incredibly difficult for you, Sirius," Kathy teased as she placed a plate in front of her daughter.

"Thank you, Kathy," Hermione told her with a smile as she picked up her fork and began eating.

The entire table watched in surprise as she ate half of her plate without a word of encouragement from Harry. She washed it down with a glass of pumpkin juice before clutching her stomach. "Bad idea?" Harry teased.

"But I was so hungry," she protested.

"We'll go for a walk after breakfast," Sirius offered. "That should help."

She nodded and the conversation returned to the table.

"So what are your plans today, Hermione?" Theodore asked.

"I don't really know," she answered honestly.

"Harry and I are going flying," Theo offered.

"Not happening, mate," Harry laughed. "Mione doesn't fly."

"You don't fly?" Theo asked indignant.

"If people were meant to fly we'd have wings," Kathy argued.

"That's what I tell Cormac every time he offers me lessons," Hermione whispered.

"McLaggen?" Theo questioned. "Tell me you're not dating that guy!"

"She's not!" Harry answered. "Everyone in our house expects her to though because 'Cormac is so cute and smart and athletic and talented and blah, blah, blah.' I can't stand the guy. She's hoping that if she can prove to him that they have absolutely nothing in common he'll back off. No luck so far."

"He's not that bad," Hermione told Harry for what must've been the thousandth time since the day last summer when he started his harassment in the Weasley twin's store.

"Yes, he is!" Harry and Theo protested in unison.

"Hello?" a male voice called from the living room.

"In here mate," Theo called over his shoulder.

"I thought he wasn't coming for another two weeks?" Kathy asked quietly. Theo simply shrugged as the kitchen door swung open.

"I hope you don't mind that I came early," the boy apologized as he entered the room. "My newest step-father doesn't seem to enjoy the sight of me."

"Of course we don't mind dear. Come! Sit! Eat!" Kathy soothed even as she ordered the boy around.

He gladly did as he was told and took the seat offered, exactly opposite of Hermione.

"Hermione?" Blaise Zabini asked as he saw the face of the girl across from him. "Harry? Sirius Black? Theo what's going on?"

Hermione blushed as she looked at the boy sitting across from her. Harry smiled and laughed at his friend.

"May I be excused," Hermione finally asked as the room remained silent. "I think I could use that walk Sirius offered."

"Of course, dear," Theodore answered and Hermione, Sirius and Harry stood and left the room

"Did I come at a bad time?" Blaise asked.

"We were hoping to give her a little more time to adjust, yes, but you're here enough that she might as well get used to it," Theodore explained.

"I'm sorry but why would she have anything to get used to?"

"Do you remember when I told you about my sister being kidnapped as a baby? And my mother being disowned by her brother?" Theo asked his friend.

Blaise nodded.

"Well, we found my sister. It's Hermione. And Harry's my cousin. My mum's brother's son."

"That's why?" Blaise let his question fade knowing they'd understand what he was asking.

"Precisely," Kathy answered as she returned to the table with a plate.

As Hermione, Sirius and Harry walked outside Sirius asked her, "A Slytherin, Hermione? Really? Well that's the last thing I'd expect from the Gryffindor princess?"

"From what you've learned of 'Mione when it's just the three of us, how much would you have expected from her?" Harry asked as he continued to poke fun at his cousin's expense.

"Point taken," Sirius agreed.

"Besides," Hermione defended, "Blaise only went to school with us for a year and half before his mum pulled him out to do homeschooling. He's barely a Slytherin. And Theo's in Slytherin house. And Blaise was never like the other Slytherins."

"Yes, yes, yes. Defend it however you like," Sirius waved her off as they continued walking.

a/n: Due to rude anonymous reviewers I have decided to block all anonymous reviews. If you have something rude to say you should have the nerve to identify yourself. Also it makes it easier for me to block abusive people. Please review and I honestly really don't know when I'm going to update again. I leave for my trip in a few hours & have a busy few days ahead of me. Thank you to all the kind reviewers & those who were taught that if they don't have anything nice to say not to say anything at all! Hope you enjoy!


	7. Chapter 7

Theo and Blaise spent most of their time together flying and reading quidditch magazines. Theo attempted to include his sister in everything they did, he even offered to do things that Hermione liked, like chess and exploding snaps and going into the muggle town nearby for a movie or meal, but she got really quiet when Blaise showed up. He couldn't figure out if his friend had somehow offended her at some point or not. He hadn't noticed anything since he'd been at the house and he didn't see her as the type to hold a grudge for years. He just couldn't figure it out. And now Harry and Sirius were preparing to go back to their own house and Hermione was withdrawing even more.

"Did you do something to her?" Theo asked Blaise the night before Harry left. Harry and Hermione were in her room playing exploding snaps and eating Bertie Botts and Red Vines, a muggle candy. Theo and Blaise could hear some muggle band called Aerosmith, that Theo only recognized because it was a favorite of his fathers, from across the hall and every once in a while they would hear raucous laughter drifting across the hall through two open doors.

"Hermione?" Blaise asked. He and Theo were listening to wizard rock on the wireless, playing exploding snaps and discussing the new quidditch season starting in a month. Who was the best seeker? Keeper? Best team? They couldn't agree on any of it but best friends didn't have to agree on everything. "I've hardly even talked to her since I've been here. She _won't_ talk to me. You've seen it. I try to talk to her and she gives one word answers then walks away."

"I know. I meant before though. When we were in school together."

Blaise blushed slightly. With his dark Italian complexion it was barely noticeable but Theo had known him his entire life and he noticed little things like that when it came to his friend.

"What did you do to her when we were in school, Blaise?"

"I…uh...I…um…well you see what I did was…"

"Spit it out!"

"It was a game of truth or dare right before mum pulled me out of Hogwarts. I was in the library studying with some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs and we got bored. You see, Hermione was studying a few shelves down and that Finch-Fletchly bloke dared me to, uh, to kiss her."

"YOU KISSED MY SISTER ON A DARE!"

"I didn't know she was your sister," Blaise defended.

"On a dare mate? Does she know it was a dare?"

"Well she probably does now," Blaise replied sarcastically. "Hell, Harry, your parents, Sirius, your neighbors and the whole town probably know by now! And that Sirius bloke scares the hell out of me too!"

"He's not so bad," Theo shrugged it off. "Did you at least like her?"

Blaise's blush grew but he denied it. "I was twelve. Girls still had kooties."

"Girls never had kooties to you."

"She's a good kisser, though."

"Watch it!"

"See I told you it didn't mean anything, Harry," Hermione told her cousin when they heard Theo's scream.

"Then he's an idiot," Harry countered. "What's Krum been up to?" he continued at the sad look on her face.

She shrugged. "Practice mostly. He's invited us to the season opener in three weeks."

"Us who, though?" he asked. "Have you told him what happened yet?"

She nodded. "I haven't given him all the details but he knows where I am and who I'm with. And us is you, me, Sirius, Theo, my parents and Blaise."

"Have you told them yet?"

"I only got his owl after dinner."

Harry nodded. "Are you too getting back together?" he asked.

This time she shrugged.

"So do you still?" Theo asked his friend after a while more on the subject of quidditch. They'd just opened a magazine to a full page spread of Viktor Krum.

"I haven't seen her in four and half years until four days ago and she's barely said a dozen words to me since then," Blaise avoided the question.

"And yet you're still blushing and you looked ready to rip my magazine to pieces when you saw Krum."

"Are they still together?"

"No, but he owls her still. I've heard her and Harry talking about it."

Blaise pulled the magazine from his friend's hands and threw it across the room. "I'm going to bed."

Blaise ran into Harry in the hall. The messy haired boy was leaning into Hermione's room. "By the way, do you realize you just called them your parents?" he asked before turning. "A dare?" Harry asked him in a deathly whisper. "Hermione deserves better than a dare!"

a/n: No note today. Just review!


	8. Chapter 8

Things were quiet the following day after Sirius and Harry took their leave. Having Sirius around for almost a full week then having him leave suddenly tended to do that to a house. Hermione had breached the subject of Viktor's invitation just before dinner and they were discussing it now as the five of them all sat around the dinner table.

"Now this Viktor," Theodore began, "he's your boyfriend?"

Hermione shook her head, "No, sir. We dated during my fourth year but we broke up shortly after."

Blaise's ears perked at her explanation eliciting a snort of laughter from Theo, follow quickly by an angry glare as Blaise's foot made contact with Theo's shin under the table. Blaise smirked back.

"And yet you've stayed in contact with him for more than two years. What were the circumstances surrounding your break-up?"

"Well, my pare…I mean, the Grangers were very protective and didn't allow me to have boyfriends so when I went home for holidays they would intercept my owls. They found a, um…love letter…from Viktor and made me end things with him straight away."

"I'm sorry to hear that dear," Kathy told her daughter.

Hermione simply shrugged it off. "I was far too busy with the Order and the DA to have a boyfriend anyway," she replied.

"But if he were to, say, ask you on a date," Theo asked, "how would you feel about it?"

She shrugged again. "I really don't know," she answered honestly. "Viktor's a very kind person but dating him was hard…with all the quidditch groupies always around. And we didn't have much to talk about."

Theo nodded, seeming pleased with the answer.

"Well, I see no reason that we can't go to see your friend play quidditch. It was very kind of him to offer all of us tickets," Kathy replied after a nod from her husband.

"I didn't think you would like quidditch," Theodore told her with a smile.

"I love it!"

"And yet you hate flying?"

"You hate flying?" Blaise asked scandalized.

"If people were meant to fly we'd have wings," Hermione and Kathy replied at the same time before laughing.

"But I've read the papers," Blaise protested, "about how you and Harry helped Sirius escape during third year on the back of a hippogriff. And didn't you fly to the ministry on threstals during fifth year? You can't even see those bloody things."

"I rode with Harry, held on tight and kept my eyes closed the whole while," Hermione answered his implied question.

After dinner Hermione went to her room to prepare for bed while the boys returned to Blaise's room, which he was cleaning by magic after being away since Christmas.

"So it seems even if Krum's got his sights set on a reconciliation, Hermione's not interested," Theo summarized the dinner conversation.

"It seems so," Blaise replied, feigning disinterest.

"So-"

"They heard you last night," Blaise cut his friend off. "Harry confronted me in the hall about the dare."

"I already knew it had to be something along those lines," Hermione told him from the doorway.

Blaise froze with his back to her.

"I mean, after all, why would Blaise Zabini ever kiss me of his own free will?"

He turned, ready to contradict her self-deprecation.

"I just wanted to say goodnight," she told them before he had the chance to say anything.

"Night, 'Mione," Theo answered.

"Yes, goodnight," Blaise echoed but she was already gone.

Hours later, the boys were still awake talking when they heard terrible screams coming from Hermione's room. Blaise was first to react, jumping up from the floor where he'd been laying and sprinting across the hall with Theo hot on his heels. They could hear two sets of footsteps thundering up the stairs as they threw Hermione's door open.

She was alone in her room, thrashing around in her bed, screaming at the top on her lungs. "NO! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME! NO! NO!"

Theo looked at his best friend, silently pleading for advice on how to proceed. Blaise ran to her bed and took her by the shoulders, gently shaking her. "Wake up, Hermione!" he pleaded. "Wake up! It's just a dream! You're alright! Just wake up!"

By now her parents had entered the room and Theodore was making his way toward the bed. Lightly pushing Blaise aside he took over shaking his daughter trying to wake her. It worked but her screams only grew at the sight of him.

"NO!" Hermione screamed her eyes wide with terror. She attempted to reach for her wand but her arms were pinned down by Theodore's strong hands. "DEATH EATERS! NO!" She continued to scream as she looked around the room and saw Theo and Kathy as well. Theodore immediately released her and she threw her arms over her face as she backed into a corner. "No, please don't hurt me," she pleaded looking from her parents to her twin and back a few times before Theo finally ran from the room and her eyes settled on Blaise who had been standing behind his friend. "Help me," she pleaded to the only face she didn't recognize from battle.

Blaise took a tentative step toward her, then another as she continued to plead for his assistance. He picked up his pace and crossed the room in a few long strides. Crouching down in front of her, he blocked her view of the rest of the room. "You're okay, Hermione. I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he attempted to soothe.

"Death eaters," she whispered back. "I don't have my wand. Get your wand out, please."

"They aren't going to hurt you," Blaise replied.

"Please, Blaise! Please! I don't have a wand," she was in tears by now as she wrapped her arms around him waist and began soaking his shirt in her tears.

"Okay," Blaise relented, pulling his wand from its holster and laying it on the floor in front of them as he sat, taking her in his arms and cradling her to his chest. "Okay. I'm going to leave it right there. They won't hurt us. I won't let them hurt us, alright?"

She nodded and turned her face away from her parents who were both in tears.

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity but in reality was only five minutes until Theo ran back into the room followed by Harry and Sirius.

"What's going on?" Harry asked as he entered the room.

Hermione's head shot up when she heard her friend's voice. "Harry," she cried as he crossed the room and crouched next to her and Blaise. She immediately released Blaise and reached for him.

"Mione," Harry soothed, "You're okay. Remember everything that Sirius told us? This is our family. We're safe with them. They're not going to hurt us. I promise."

"I don't want to stay here," she continued to cry.

"Okay," he told her. "Okay, we'll go back to Grimmauld Place for the night. How's that sound? You can sleep in your old room and we'll talk about this in the morning."

Hermione nodded and Harry stood with her still in his arms. "I'm sorry," he mouthed as he made his way out of the room with her face still buried is his chest.

"We think she needs to see a healer," Sirius told Kathy and Theodore when Harry was gone. "One who specializes in trauma."

Kathy nodded.

"Let's take her tonight then," Theodore offered. "St. Mungo's will admit her to the psychiatric ward right now after what just happened."

"No, not until she's calmed down and you've had a chance to explain it to her," Sirius protested, "If you do that she'll never forgive you. 'Mione can hold a grudge like no other. I'll call Madam Pomfrey tonight to check in on her. I have some dreamless sleep draught at home. She'll be fine in the morning and we can find her a healer. She already told Harry she'd see one."

"How long has this been going on?" Kathy asked her old friend.

"Since the Ministry battle," Sirius replied with a sigh. "When I fell through the veil and disappeared for a few weeks it was hard on all of the kids but Hermione still had nightmares about it after I returned. I think it was everything. She saw Bella die that night—witnessed death even if it was someone she hated—and she fought in a real battle and she fought you," he stressed looking at his cousin. "She fought her father, not knowing who he was or that he was really on our side and there to protect her. Harry's having trouble with it too and you're only his uncle. We'll get her help," he added seeing the sorrow in his family's faces. "She'll be alright."

a/n: Look for more regular updates again in the next few days as my trip home will be over and I will be near a computer more often. As always: Please review! They make me happy!


	9. Chapter 9

Hermione awoke the next morning in a very familiar room but it wasn't her childhood bedroom, nor was it her new room in her new home. It was her room in Grimmauld Place. The previous summer, when she and Harry stayed here with Sirius and no Weasleys, he'd allowed them each to choose the room of their liking and decorate it anyway they wanted. Hermione had chosen an east-facing room on the third floor and painted it yellow that brightened the entire room when the first ray of morning sunlight peaked through. That was how she knew where she was. The bright yellow of the walls. She loved this room. It was the first time she got to do her own decorating.

There were no pink and purple walls or ballerina figurines on every surface. And no posters of figure skaters or classical musicians. There weren't any long abandoned musical instruments in the corners. Nothing to remind her that she had turned out the exact opposite of the daughter that her parents—no the Grangers—had wanted her to be.

Instead there were shelves lined with books on any and every non-dark magic topic that you could imagine and National Geographic magazines featuring sharks, gorillas, and nudist colonies and muggle reading materials to further study what she read about in those National Geographics. There were muggle and wizard rock posters on the walls along with quidditch and football posters. The corner had a deluxe potion station and another had an old guitar that Sirius promised to teach her to play if it was the very last thing he did. Yes, this was _her_ room.

But there was a question nagging her. Why? Why was she in her Grimmauld Place haven? When she'd gone to bed the night before she specifically remembered saying goodnight to her parents in their study then going back upstairs to say goodnight to Theo and Blaise. Then she'd gone to bed in her room. How did she wake up here?

"Are you decent?" Harry called as he knocked on the door.

"One minute," she replied as she pulled a clean Weird Sisters shirt over her head and buttoned her jeans. She kept clothes here just in case she didn't have a chance to go home, like during Christmas holiday her fifth year. "Come in."

"How are you feeling?" Harry asked as he peaked in, head first, then shoulders, abdomen, and finally he stepped into the room fully. This had become habit for Harry after accidentally walking in on Hermione in the shower at the Weasleys house the summer before fourth year. Not an experience he ever wanted to repeat.

"Fine," she replied as they both sat on the bed to talk. "Tired and a little sore."

Harry nodded his understanding.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Why am I here?"

"You don't remember?" he asked, stunned.

"No. I fell asleep at home and woke up here. Did something happen?"

Harry let out a deep sigh. This was worse than they thought. "You had a nightmare," he finally told her. "You were screaming in your sleep and when your father tried to wake you, you started screaming about Death Eaters, like he was attacking you or something. By the time Sirius and I got there you were cowered in a coroner crying to Blaise to help you and not let them hurt you."

"I…I don't remember any of that."

"Mione, you have to see a healer," Harry pleaded.

"I already told you I would," she replied with an annoyed huff as she stood from the bed.

"I know you said you would but I also know that you only said it for my benefit and not because you really want or believe you need help but you're blacking out now, 'Mione! You need to do something before things get any worse."

"I'm fine," she grumbled. "I just need some dreamless sleep draught and-"

"No! You need professional help!" Sirius told her as he entered the room carrying breakfast on a tray. "And if you refuse we can force it."

Hermione opened her mouth to protest but Sirius continued.

"You spent all this time believing you were muggle born so you didn't have to learn the rules and laws governing pure-bloods before now. The most important in this case being that your parents have the right to force treatment on a witch until such time as she is married."

"So I'm their property?" Hermione asked scandalized.

"Believe me," Sirius told her, "Except for a few extremists muggle-borns have it easy in our world."

"So they're threatening to have me committed?"

"No," Sirius told her. "I am. They only wanted to have you admitted last night to make sure you were safe but I convinced them it would be best to explain everything to you when you calmed down so that you could make the decision yourself."

"Mione," Harry interjected, knowing his best friend and godfather were about to reach the point where neither would listen to the other and it would all turn into a big shouting match that accomplished nothing. "You scared me last night. Sirius, Theo and Blaise too. You made the Notts cry and not one of us has slept other than you. If you don't want to do this for yourself fine! Do it for me. For us! Please."

"Fine," she finally relented with a heavy sigh.

"Good," Harry replied with a smile.

"Now what?"

"Now, we take you home and tell your parents," Sirius replied as he stood and offered her his hand.

a/n: Two updates today because I'm not sure if you'll get one tomorrow. I have a thirteen hour drive home so we'll all just have to wait & see but I think it would be awesome to have an inbox full of reviews when I do get home tomorrow. Hint hint!


	10. Chapter 10

Hermione blushed when she walked into her house and the first person she saw was Blaise. She'd always thought he was the most attractive boy she'd ever seen and that hadn't changed, though today he looked very run-down. Sick almost. Her attraction to the boy wasn't why she was blushing though. Hermione was embarrassed. According to Harry she'd had a major mental break right in front of her long-time crush the night before. And if that wasn't bad enough, she crawled into his lap crying as well.

"Hello," she mumbled as Harry and Sirius escorted her into the room.

"How are you feeling?" he asked through a yawn.

She only shrugged as she followed Sirius through the room toward her parent's study. He'd flooed ahead and told them that they were on their way. In return, they told him where to meet them.

Harry lingered long enough to tell him, "she doesn't remember a thing," without Hermione hearing.

Blaise's eyes grew wide at this. Hermione noticed. She'd turned to see why her friend was no longer by her side. She looked down at the floor, ashamed.

"Hermione, I-"

Blaise stopped talking when she walked out of the room.

"Hermione has agreed to see a healer," Sirius told the Notts once they were in the study with the door closed behind them. Her parents and brother let out a collective sigh of relief as Harry sat by her side and allowed her to squeeze his hand until he lost circulation. Blaise was left outside. "She's agreed to go today."

"I don't want to stay there, though," she told them. "If it's alright," she paused a looked at Harry. He nodded for her to continue. "If it's alright, I'd like to try to continue staying here. If I have more…episodes…like last night Sirius has offered to let me stay in my room at his house."

"Are you sure?" Theo asked. He looked ready to cry again.

Hermione nodded. "I am so very sorry for the things that I said last night. I don't know what came over me. I know that none of you would hurt me and that I'm perfectly safe here but with how I woke up, I guess. I don't know. I don't even remember anything after saying goodnight to Theo and Blaise. Harry only to me about it this morning. I…" She trailed off, not sure of what else to say.

"Have you eaten yet?" Kathy asked.

She shook her head. "I'm not hungry," she explained.

"There's been a lot of that this morning," Theodore replied continuing right away when he saw his daughter's sorrowful reaction to his attempt at humor. "We can leave whenever you like," he told her.

"Now?"

"Are you sure?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, sir."

Blaise spent the entire day alone. Thankfully the Notts had house elves because he didn't know how to cook and no one returned from St. Mungo's until almost ten that evening. He flew. He read. He cleaned. And when there was nothing else to do, he snooped. Normally it wouldn't be considered snooping as he practically grew up in this house and was welcome in almost every room of it. The one room he wasn't allowed into in all the years he'd known the Notts had been Hermione's. It was an unspoken rule of his and Theo's friendship. He'd come over on Theo's eleventh birthday. The Notts threw a party and invited the entire pure-blood community. Blaise was the only boy to show up.

_Blaise looked everywhere for Theo. Pansy Parkinson had just made fun of him and he'd run into the house and up the stairs. Theo had been telling them all about the owl that brought his Hogwarts letter and how he hoped to be in Gryffindor just like his parents. It didn't go over too well with the girls who all expected to be Slytherins like their own parents. Pansy had pointed out that that was the reason none of the boys like him. _

_Blaise had found his best friend sitting alone in the room that was always locked. Theo was crying. "Pansy's stupid," Blaise told him but wasn't prepared for the glare he received._

"_GET OUT!" Theo yelled at him. "IF YOU EVER COME IN HERE AGAIN I'LL NEVER TALK TO YOU!"_

_Blaise walked into his own room and spent the remainder of the party there. Kathy had brought him a piece of cake late that night. She sat him down on the bed and explained Theo's reaction. "Did your mum ever tell you about Theo's twin?" she'd asked. _

"_My mum never tells me anything," Blaise reminder her through a mouthful of cake._

_Kathy gave him a sad nod. "Well, you see, Theo had a twin sister. Her name was Elizabeth and one day Theodore and I took her and Theo into muggle London to go shopping. Theo started crying and his father and I were trying to calm him down. We only turned away for a moment but when we turned back Elizabeth was gone. We never heard her cry or anything. She was always so calm and quiet. We think she was taken by a muggle but we could never find her. Theo still blames himself. He thinks if he hadn't cried, she'd be with us now. Their…" she paused a moment to wipe her tear, "Their birthday is always hard on all of us but especially him. He insists that we keep a room for her. He and I decorate it together every year."_

"_That's Elizabeth's room?" Blaise asked. _

_Kathy nodded. "Theo likes to keep a little piece of her to himself."_

_Blaise had hugged her before she left the room then he'd gone to see Theo._

"_I'm sorry," they said in unison._

Blaise hadn't set foot in Hermione's room since her eleventh birthday. Until today. He ran a finger lightly over the spines of the many books that lined her shelves. They all looked to be text books until his finger hit the metal rings of a spiral notebook. They weren't allowed at Hogwarts. It must've been from her time in muggle school. But why would she keep it so long. It piqued his curiosity so he pulled the notebook off the shelf.

Thinking about how badly she need a couch, Blaise took a seat on Hermione's bed and opened the book. He didn't open it to the first page, however. He just turned to a page about three-quarters of the way through the book and started reading. It wasn't muggle school notes as he'd suspected. He wasn't sure what it was actually until he began reading.

_4 December 1992_

_Blaise Zabini kissed me today in the school library. I have no idea why though I'm sure it must've been a dare or something of the sort. Harry disagrees but Harry tends to get upset anytime he thinks I'm putting myself down. He, of course, can't see any reason why Blaise wouldn't like me. It's an insane crush I know but for some reason he insists on encouraging it. We haven't told Ron yet. He walked in on us when we were talking about it earlier and didn't even seem to notice when we both got quiet. He just kept talking about the Chudley Cannons. Not even a good team._

Blaise laughed at the last sentence. The girl had good taste in quidditch. That was for sure. He turned ahead a few pages

_15 January 1993 _

_Blaise didn't return after the holiday. I wonder why. He's a pure-blood as far as I know. Why would he have to be afraid of the heir? I still can't believe it isn't Malfoy._

Blaise turned ahead a few more pages. 'If only she knew,' he thought.

_30 August 1993_

_I'm sorry I haven't written in so long. I don't know why I'm apologizing. Or at least not who I'm apologizing to. I was attacked by the heir and petrified. As soon as I was fixed Mum and Dad demanded that I return home. I didn't even get to finish out the term and of course I couldn't bring my journal with me. They'd have a fit. I'm surprised they let me return to school at all but apparently Dumbledore's managed to convince them as they sent me to stay at the Leaky Cauldron after reading his owl. Harry's here as well. He actually blew up his aunt! We've spent quite a bit of time in Diagon Alley. It's been great fun. I was so delighted to see that he kept you safe for me and brought you back with him. He's such a great_

Blaise stopped reading and hastily returned the book the shelf when he heard the front door open and close. He rushed out of the room and down the stairs. "Where's Hermione?" he asked when the Notts walked in without her. Harry and Sirius weren't far behind.

"They're keeping her overnight," Theodore explained with a groan. "They want to observe her for at least twenty four hours."

"She's not happy about it," Theo informed his friend.

"But she's agreed to it," Harry added, "without a major fight and that's a good sign."

"What have you been doing all day?" Kathy asked as she kissed Blaise on the top of his head on her way into the kitchen.

"Flying, reading, cleaning," Blaise answered with a shrug.

"Have you eaten?"

"Yes. I had the house elves make me something."

"It's a good thing we have them. The poor boy would've starved," Theodore laughed.

"Hermione's not going to be happy when she hears it," Sirius informed them.

"We pay them," Kathy assured with an annoyed huff before changing her tone. It had been a very long day. "We've hire a few of the elves displaced after the war. I'm going to the village to pick up a pizza."

"I'm going flying," Theo informed Harry and Blaise as the adults left the room—Kathy to the village and Sirius and Theodore to the study. "Want to come?"

Blaise shook his head. Harry was heading for the door when he stopped him. Theo was already gone.

"What's up, mate?" Harry asked.

"I need to ask you something. Upstairs?"

Harry nodded and followed Blaise.

a/n: That drive sucks! Here's your next chapter. Review!


	11. Chapter 11

Harry and Blaise were silent until they reached the second floor.

"What did you want to know?" Harry finally asked once they were in Blaise's room with the door closed.

"What were the Grangers like?" Blaise got right to the subject.

"Why do you ask?" Harry asked with a suspicious look.

Blaise let out a deep sigh. "Promise you won't tell her?"

Harry nodded his agreement not because he was at all comfortable with keeping things from Hermione but because he wanted to know what had caught Blaise's interest.

"I went into her room; just before you lot arrived home. I…um…I read some of her journal. There was something that she wrote just before third year; that they made her leave school just after she was un-petrified and she worried that they wouldn't let her return."

Harry nodded.

"And that she had to leave her journal at school because they'd be upset to find it in their house. You brought it to her."

"They…well at one point I would've said that they were generally good people who were just overly concerned for their daughter-"

"But then you found out what they did," Blaise finished, cutting him off.

Harry shook his head. "No. I actually became disillusioned with them long before that. Hermione…" Harry sighed. "If you haven't noticed, Hermione's got a lot of issues: low confidence, low self-esteem, a very strong need to please everyone around her, feelings of complete inadequacy in every way. I thought for a long time that it was the muggle-born slander and the way that even our own house made fun of her for studying and following rules. Then she asked me to keep her journal safe while she went home for Christmas holidays during first year."

"But why?"

"Because she wasn't what they wanted!" Harry snapped. "She's never actually said the words but I could tell. Over the rest of first, second, and part of third years she told me about failed ballet, voice, piano, violin, figure skating. I went to her house once just last summer. Remus and I picked her up there. Her room was pink and purple with ballet and figure skating posters and classical musicians. Books that even she wouldn't read. It just…"

"Wasn't Hermione?" Blaise asked.

"She just wants to be loved," Harry told him. "And she deserves to feel loved. She's such an amazing person once she lets her guard down. She's fun and she's talented and she's interesting and her intelligence doesn't stop with the answers she monopolizes in class. She knows so much and if you can get her to have a real conversation with you, you could listen to her for hours. But she only lets Sirius and I see that. I think we're the only people who've ever made her feel loved. I know that so many people do love her but she doesn't," Harry continued anticipating his protest. "They took her away because they wanted a daughter so badly but they didn't just want a daughter. They wanted her to be a certain way, a certain person. She just couldn't be what they wanted no matter how hard she tried. And they made sure she knew how disappointed that made them."

Blaise gave a sad nod as Theo came in from flying to inform them that his mum had returned with dinner.

Blaise hardly slept that night. The things that Hermione had written in her journal kept running through his mind. Especially the things that she'd written about him. Even the things that she said to him the night before were weighing heavy on him. She didn't think he would even be interested in her. The problem with that was simple enough for him: he always had been. He thought it was cute the way that she scrunched her nose in concentration at the welcoming feast first year when she was sat on the stool with the sorting hat on her head. She pushed him to do better in school in the short time they attended together. It was something that had always come easy to him but she was smarter and being the competitive person he was he had to win this one-sided competition they had going. But, oddly, it never bothered him that he was constantly losing out to her. He'd admired her loyalty to her house and her friends.

Then tonight, Harry had told him that she never felt like she was enough. The Grangers may not have abused her the way that his step-fathers had done to him but what they did was worse in his eyes. She loved them and trusted them and all she ever needed were the same things in return but she never got them. They neglected her by withholding their love. He'd never loved his step-fathers. He'd never even liked them. Not a single one! He imagined that their treatment would have been much harder for him to take if he had loved them. To be completely honest he didn't even love his mother.

He'd been taught his whole life that emotions, especially love, were only weakness. He was always too weak for her. Not because he loved her though. Because he loved the Notts. He loved Theodore and Kathy like they were his own parents and Theo was his brother no matter what anyone else thought. And he loved Hermione as well. It wasn't the puppy love crush type of love, however. He felt that too, of course. But the love that he felt strongest for her was because of her connection to his friend. She was his best friend's twin. Theo loved her, so Blaise loved her. Theo worried about her, so Blaise worried about her.

But the hardest part now was that Blaise worried more. He knew more. Things he couldn't tell Theo because if Hermione found out, she may hate him. Or Theo might. Either way, it had to be kept between him and Harry for now.

a/n: I'm already writing chapter 15 at the moment so review & maybe I'll post again today!


	12. Chapter 12

"Hello?" Hermione called when she walked into the house the following evening.

"Hi," Blaise replied, stepping in behind her.

"Oh, hello. Where is everyone?" she asked hurrying into the sitting room to create distance between them.

"Your mum took Theo to his therapy appointment and your dad had work to attend to at the ministry," Blaise replied following her into the sitting room. "How are you feeling?"

"Good," Hermione rushed to answer. "Fine, I'm fine."

Blaise nodded.

"I'm terribly sorry about the other night. Harry told me the state we were in when he arrived and…well I'm sorry."

"It's alright," he replied. "Really. I just hope that I helped."

She nodded.

"Dinner's ready if you're hungry," he offered.

"I'm starved!" she blurted. "I assume you've eaten?"

"No, actually, I haven't. I ate alone last night. Thought I'd wait for some company tonight. Shall we?"

Hermione quietly obeyed, following him into the dining room where elves were serving their plates.

"They're paid," Blaise was quick to explain.

"I know. Theo told me."

For the first time, Blaise noticed that Hermione was clutching a bag in her hand.

"What've you got there?" he asked.

"It's a cd," she replied. "Music," she continued at his blank stare. "Muggle music. Aerosmith's newest cd. Sirius took Harry and I into London after he picked me up from St. Mungo's and he bought us each a copy. I haven't gotten to listen to it yet of course. Sorry. I'm rambling. I do that often when I'm nervous."

"Why are you nervous?" he asked pulling her chair out for her before seating himself.

"Possibly because of my behavior the other night," she replied sarcastically.

"Don't worry about that," he told her with a smile. "I told you, I just wanted to help."

"Well, you did," she replied. "At least I think you probably did."

"Good," he laughed as they began eating.

"Um, Blaise?" Hermione asked after a long silence.

"Yes?"

"You said Theo was in therapy?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"He's been in therapy since we were really young to deal with his feelings about your kidnapping," Blaise explained.

"Oh," Hermione nodded before standing and clearing her plate.

Later that night Blaise was walking back to his room from the shower when he heard whimpering sobs from Hermione's room. He thought she had gone to sleep hours ago so he knocked on her door to see if he was alright. No answer but the sobs grew louder so he entered the room without consent. The Notts were still out and he had no idea when they would be returning.

She was tossing and turning in her bed again. He crossed the room and thought of waking her but then thought better of it. He didn't want her reacting the same way she had the other night. No, he'd sit and wait to see if it got any worse before taking action. He made himself comfortable on the floor using his towel for a pillow as he lay there listening to her soft cries.

He couldn't tell you exactly when he fell asleep but sometime later Theodore shook him awake kneeling near him on the floor. "What are you doing sleeping on the floor?" he asked as Blaise sat up and began stretching the kinks in his neck.

"She was crying in her sleep," Blaise explained in a whisper. "I didn't want to wake her but I was the only one here and didn't know what to do so I thought I'd stay for a while and see if it got any worse. I guess I fell asleep."

"Guess so," Theodore replied as he helped Blaise stand.

"She really needs a couch or an armchair or something in here."

"Plan on sleeping in my daughter's room often?" Theodore laughed.

Blaise blushed slightly when he replied, "If I have to."

"Did it get any worse?" the older man asked as they left the room.

Blaise shook his head no.

"Well thank you for being there."

"It's against the rules, though," Blaise pointed out.

"Yes well I think those may need to be changed considering the circumstances. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight."

a/n: Two updates today=lucky readers. Reviews=Lucky me!


	13. Chapter 13

"Pink it was love at first sight! Oh oh oh PINK when I turn out the light! Pink it's like red but not BLAISE!"

Hermione had been bouncing around on her bed when he opened the door. She was holding a silver, roundish contraption with a wire connecting it to her ears and singing/shouting at the top of her lungs. Surprisingly, she'd managed to stay on tune, or so he thought. It was hard to tell never hearing the song before.

Blaise simply leaned against the door jamb laughing as her face turned the color she'd just been singing about.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked.

"I…knocked," he gasped out between guffaws.

"I silencioed the door," she told him, blushing more. "You can stop laughing now. I get it. I've completely embarrassed myself," she continued as she fell to her knees on the bed.

"Ah, don't be like that," he told her still giggling. "It was cute! I've never seen the Gryffindor princess in such a light."

"I've always hated that nickname," she grumbled wrapping the wire around the roundish contraption and placing it in the top drawer of her nightstand.

"I'm sorry," he replied, holding his hands up in surrender. "Mind if I ask why?"

"You never told me what you were doing in here," she reminded him in order to change the subject.

"Oh, yes, sorry," he caught on allowing her to avoid the question. "You're mum asked me to tell you that you'll be leaving for therapy in fifteen minutes." He looked at his watch. "More like ten now."

Hermione nodded and stood from her bed, walking to the mirror to double check her appearance without a word to him.

"What was that you were singing anyway?"

"Aerosmith," she replied simply.

"Yes the dc you bought a few days ago?"

"Cd," she corrected laughing. "And yes. I was listening to it on my portable cd player."

He nodded before asking, "Do you mind if I have a listen?"

"Really?"

"You have a very nice voice," he told her. "It made me wonder how good the band must be if you can sing their songs so beautifully."

"Um…sure," Hermione stammered over her words, not sure how to react to his compliment, as she crossed the room to collect the cd player from her drawer. "I should go now," she told him when he took a step too close to retrieve the item from her hand.

"Good luck," he told her with a friendly smile as she left the room.

_Too much expectation. It always made her feel very pressured. Sirius said you can come over._

Blaise nodded to himself as he read the short note Harry had just sent him. He'd inquired of his new friend as to why Hermione hated the moniker her peers had given her so completely and once he was enlightened as to why, he had to admit it made sense. He'd have hated to have so many expectations put on him. Actually he did have them. And he did hate it. He headed toward the floo.

Blaise didn't like being alone. He spent a lot of time alone when he was with his mother so when he stayed with the Notts the last thing that he wanted was to sit alone in the house all day. For the past few days, however, that's what he'd been doing and today was no different. On top of the therapy that all four of them took separately, Theodore and Kathy were in couples counseling with a muggle therapist that they'd been seeing for many years now, Theo and Hermione went to counseling together to try to build a relationship as brother and sister and all four of them saw a family therapist together. Today Hermione had therapy, then she and Theo had therapy together then the whole family went in.

Blaise shook his head as he exited the floo in Sirius's living room. It must've been exhausting. He saw a therapist because of his parental issues but it was only once a month and only on holidays so that his mother didn't know about it. When he thought about it, he couldn't think of one person he associated with regularly who didn't see someone. That wasn't saying much of course as Blaise didn't really socialize but he still considered the wizarding world to be quite neurotic since Voldemort ruined so many lives.

"Hullo, Sirius," Blaise greeted as he passed the man in the hall.

"You want to hear more Aerosmith?" Sirius asked, turning and following the boy up the stairs toward the floor that Harry and Hermione used to share.

"Mione let me borrow her cd," Blaise explained. "It was quite good."

"She has more in her room here," Sirius explained before turning and heading back in the direction he came. "I'm going out to pick up dinner. Tell Harry," he yelled over his shoulder as an afterthought.

"This is Hermione's room?" Blaise asked as he and Harry entered the bright yellow dwelling.

Harry nodded as he turned the stereo on and put a cd inside.

"Did she take these?" Blaise asked again, pointing to frame pictures on the wall.

"Yeah," Harry answered. "She really likes photography."

"She's good at it! Is that the giant squid?"

"She used the bubblehead charm to dive into the black lake during third year. She won't admit it after everything the Prophet's printed but her dream has always been to be a photo-journalist."

"Like Rita Skeeter?" Blaise joked.

Harry laughed. "Actually more like the people who write for National Geographic."

"What?"

"It's a muggle magazine," Harry replied pointing to the shelves filled with the magazine.

a/n: I have to go to work soon. I do not like this job. I start a new job next week. I hope to like that job more. But I have to work a few more days at this one to hopefully get enough tips to pay my phone and rent by the end of the week. I know none of you care but I needed to vent. Also I needed you all to know why you should review a lot in the next 6 hours so that I can be happy and smiley when I get home. I do not like ties. No, no, no! In fact I think that is my biggest issue with my job.


	14. Chapter 14

"I was cryin' when I met you now I'm tryin' to forget you," Blaise sang under his breath as he played air guitar and walked through the Notts large yard. It was the day after his visit to Grimmauld Place and he was waiting for Theo and Hermione to return from dinner in the nearby muggle village. Their therapist suggested that they go on outings together in order to build a better understand of each other and eventually a stronger bond.

Blaise had been left alone with Theodore and Kathy for the evening. They'd all had dinner together before Theodore retired to his study and Kathy went to a meeting for a charity she worked with at St. Mungos. Blaise was left alone to entertain himself.

He stood still when the guitar solo started and rocked out in the isolating darkness.

"I didn't know you were a fan," he heard Hermione comment from above him.

Looking up he saw her sitting alone on a tree branch kicking her feet back and forth and smiling down at him.

"You got me hooked," he replied as he smiled back. "What are you doing up there?"

She held up a muggle camera. "Looking at the stars," she replied. "Would you like to join me?"

"I would," he replied as his smile grew, "but I'm afraid I'm a terrible climber."

She laughed before adjusting her weight until she was simply hanging from the branch. Her feet hung three feet above the ground as she let go and dropped next to him. "Mind if I join you then?"

"By all means," he laughed with her as they laid in the grass.

"So I hear you explored my bedroom?" Hermione asked as she adjusted the zoom on her camera and pointed it at the tree canopy above them.

Blaise stared wide eyed above them but remained silent. Had Harry really told her about their conversation after he promised not to? He thought they had an understanding.

"My room here must seem boring by comparison. Mum said we'll start working on it tomorrow."

Blaise breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't caught. "Are you going to stay with yellow?" he asked, not know what else to say, his mind blank in his relief.

"I don't know," she replied. "It doesn't face east like my old room does. I was thinking more of a very pale blue. It should mix nicely with the oranges and purples of the sunset at least. What do you think?"

"I'm not really good with that sort of thing," he replied honestly, turning in time to see her rest the camera on her stomach and place her hands in the grass, her right very close to his left. Almost close enough to touch.

They were both quiet for a long time.

"You're a very good photographer," he finally told her. He needed something to break the silence. "I think you'd do well working for that magazine that you like so much."

Her head shot to the side. "Harry told you about that?"

"I'm sorry if I wasn't supposed to know," he replied quickly.

She smiled. "No, it's fine. I've just never told anyone else about that. I was surprised is all. You really think they're good?"

"Brilliant," he told her with a smile.

She smiled back. It was the first time he'd seen her smile that large.

"Do you realize you just called Kathy mum?" he asked after another long silence.

"Yes, well, I'm working on that in therapy," she replied.

"How's that going?"

"Alright," she shrugged. "I understand that the Grangers illegally stole me from my real family and that it had a devastating effect on many people and that we're all trying to cope in our own ways. It's just hard to see the Grangers as anything other than my parents, you know? The healer thinks that if I call Kathy and Theodore Mum and Dad it'll help me to come to terms with who my real parents are."

"What about the other stuff?" he asked knowing full well that she might shut down but needing to know how she was coping with the war. "The nightmares?"

"We…that is to say I've been doing better. The healer has been trying hypnosis to get me to remember the nightmares and…and after I tell her about them we discuss them…well I think it's helping."

"You don't cry as much in your sleep," he told her but immediately regretted it.

"Excuse me?"

"I mean…shite! I was passing your room about a week ago, the night when you got home from St. Mungos, and I heard you sort of whimpering in your sleep so I went in to make sure you were alright. I haven't heard it for a few nights now though," he attempted to explain but she was already standing and walking toward the house. "Mione, stop! I was just-"

"Worried about me!" she snapped cutting him off, only she didn't sound angry but hurt. "Yes, everyone is so worried about me. And here I thought you took an interest in talking to me because you really wanted to be my friend. But no, you're just afraid I'm going to break down again and want to avoid the mess."

"Hermione, that's not it at all," he tried to reason, lowering his voice as they entered the house. "I want to talk to you. I want to be your friend. I always have. It isn't something new since the other night. It's not even something new since I found out that you were a Nott. I've always thought you were interesting and kind and-"

He was cut off when she closed her bedroom door in his face.

a/n: You're all amazing. Thank you for the words of encouragement. As a reward I wrote yet another chapter after work last night & I can guarantee two updates today. Here is number one! Review!


	15. Chapter 15

Blaise didn't see Hermione at all for the next three days. He'd stayed outside of her room the whole night after their argument and into the late hours of the following morning but she didn't leave. Finally when he couldn't take the hunger pains anymore he went down to breakfast with the intention of returning to his post as soon as he finished. But she must've been waiting for that because she'd managed to sneak out of her room and apparently the house before he made it back upstairs. He returned to find her door open and the room empty.

Theo explained that she'd gone to her healer appointment when they were on their way to go flying. But she didn't come home that night. Or the next or the next. He knew where she was, of course. He'd gotten a very angry letter from Harry saying that Hermione had gone there after her healer appointment and didn't want to go home because Blaise had hurt her feelings. He hadn't meant to, Harry knew, and Blaise was pretty sure that's the only reason the Boy-who-lived hadn't come over and hexed him into next year yet. He had good intentions! He had simply wanted her to know that he cared about her and he wanted her to feel better about herself and this situation. She'd taken it the wrong way, which he should have anticipated. But he didn't and he blew it.

It was now the evening of day four and he was feeling sick to his stomach with anticipation and anxiety. When was she coming home? Would she forgive him? Would she let him explain?

He heard music playing from down the hall and the sound of four girls giggling. Harry poked his head into Blaise's cracked door. "We're going flying mate. You coming?"

"Is she back?" Blaise asked shooting up in bed.

Harry nodded. "She's with Ginny, Lavender, and Luna in her room now. Luna and the Weasleys are staying for dinner."

"I'll meet you down there," Blaise answered, slowly getting out of bed.

He waited until he was sure Harry was in the yard before exiting his room, broom in hand. He paused a moment outside Hermione's door before knocking.

"Come in," a voice that wasn't hers answered.

Blaise slowly peaked his head inside. "Hello ladies," he charmed with a smile before locking eyes with Hermione, "Welcome home. I missed you."

She didn't reply as he left the room. This time only two girls giggled. He knew who they were. Ginny and Lavender always had small crushes on him. He found it ridiculous and slightly annoying, well Lavender was annoying at least. Ginny had only quietly stared at him with love-sick eyes in the short time they went to school together.

His one experience with Luna had been the same night that he played that fateful game of truth or dare with her housemates. She had told him she thought it cruel for him to play with a girl's emotions in such a way. He had thought it quite strange for her to speak up in such a way. It was the only thing she'd ever said to him and he was gone within a week.

"So, Neville tells me 'Mione's finally been dragged to the loony bin," Ron laughed as he, Theo, Harry, Blaise, and three of his older brother—the twins and a scarred dragon trainer named Charlie—took flight.

Blaise was about to defend her when one of the twins—Fred, or at least Blaise thought it was Fred—sent a bludger at his younger brother's face. "Don't be a git!" Fred yelled as he flew past.

"Yeah, you better not say that in front of 'Mione," George warned. "You're supposed to be her friend."

"It was just a joke," Ron grumbled loud enough for all six of his companions to hear.

"A mean-spirited joke," Charlie corrected. "And I'm sure Neville didn't use that term!"

"Fine! I'm sorry!" Ron snapped. "Can we just play already?"

"Their very protective, can you tell?" Harry asked as he flew past Theo and Blaise.

The boys played quidditch for over an hour before they were called into dinner. Theo explained to Blaise in whispers on the way inside, "The healer suggested that in order to build a relationship with Hermione we'd need to build a relationship with the people important to her—the Weasleys, Luna, and Neville. Neville couldn't make it tonight though, some mishap with a potion he was working on. Lavender came with WonWon."

Dinner seemed to be going good. Hermione joked with her friends and discussed a visit to Romania to photograph the dragons with Charlie. The adults talked about old times and new happenings and even Theo and Blaise joined a conversation about quidditch with the other boys.

Theo was just explaining the dynamics of the Slytherin quidditch team and how you basically had to bribe your way onto the team as an explanation to the twins of why such a good player wasn't playing for his house when Ron had to open his big mouth and ruin things.

"Why didn't you tell me about St. Mungos and the trauma healer?" he asked Hermione in what was supposed to be a quiet voice but the rest of the table heard it anyway.

"Bloody hell, Ron," Fred groaned. "We told you not to say anything."

Hermione didn't reply. Instead, Hermione did what Blaise and the Notts were growing accustomed to Hermione doing. She shut down. She didn't talk, smile or eat for the remainder of the meal. Everyone tried to ignore it and go on with their conversations as best as normal to ease the tension but soon Blaise heard a soft sniffle. He was about to push his chair back to escort Hermione from the room when Luna reacted.

"May we be excused?" the dreamy-eyed blonde asked, standing and taking Hermione's hand.

"Of course dear," Kathy responded and Luna took Hermione from the room.

"Ouch!" Ron yelped as a loud thud was heard under the table. "What the bloody hell was that for?"

"Next time we tell you to keep your mouth shut," Fred began.

"Keep your damn mouth shut!" George finished for his twin.

"Really, Ronald," Ginny snapped, "how dare you treat your friends like that!"

"LavLav, love," Ron pleaded, "a little help?"

"There are just certain things you don't speak about in public, Ronald," Lavender replied with a hug as she crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from him.

Molly and Arthur were trying to apologize for their children's behavior at the other end of the table but the Notts and Sirius simply laughed. Two former marauders and the sister of a third were used to a few crazy meals every once in a while.

"May I be excused?" Blaise finally asked after glaring at Ron for a full ten minutes. He was afraid if he didn't leave now he'd lunged across the table and throttle the annoying red head sitting directly across from him and to the left of where Hermione had been. He didn't wait for a reply from the distracted adults and simply stood and left the room, followed closely by Theo.

a/n: And here is update #2 for the day. I have to start getting ready for work now…boo. Reviews make me happy!


	16. Chapter 16

"Mind if I join you," Blaise asked later that night as he entered Hermione's room.

Harry nodded his hello as he stood. "I was just going to bed actually. Night 'Mione."

Harry left with Theo close behind after he hugged his sister goodnight. Harry had decided to stay there for the night after Ron's idiocy at dinner and Hermione's resulting reaction.

"Hi," Hermione greeted as she took a seat on the bed.

"How are you feeling?"

She let out an annoyed huff. "If I didn't make it clear to you before-"

"Bloody hell, Hermione," Blaise cut her off. "Did it ever occur to you that I genuinely care about you and want to see you happy? I'm not afraid of you breaking down again and if you do then I honestly hope that I can be there to help you through it! I'm asking how you're feeling because Ron was an arse to you at dinner and yes, I'm worried! Hex me!"

Hermione stared at him wide eyed for a while before finally answering in a quiet voice, "I'm fine. I just wasn't expecting it is all."

Blaise nodded as he walked further into the room. "I don't think anyone was. Does it help to know that he could barely walk when they left? Fred and George each kicked him under the table as soon as you left the room. Hard too."

Hermione laughed. "Maybe a little."

"How about this: Ginny yelled at him and LavLav wouldn't even talk to him for the rest of the night."

"Alright, that helps a lot," she replied with a genuine smile and a yawn.

"I'll let you sleep I guess," he told her then paused as he was half way back to the door. He turned back and approached her slowly. She watched with a confused look as he climbed onto the bed with her and embraced her in a tight hug. "Goodnight, Hermione," he whispered. "I won't check on you tonight if you like."

"I'd appreciate it," she replied as she returned his embrace. "Goodnight."

He climbed off the bed and left the room without another word.

Blaise did as he promised. He didn't check on Hermione once all night. But Theo did!

"She didn't whimper or cry once all night," Theo reported to Harry, Blaise and his parents the next morning as they waited for Hermione to come downstairs.

They planned on spending the day in the muggle village nearby where Hermione and Harry could both shop for their rooms.

"Better not let her hear you talking about that, mate," Blaise warned. "I made that mistake and she took off to Grimmauld Place for three nights."

Harry cleared his throat rather loudly at that point. Blaise turned to see Hermione just entering the room.

"Good morning dear," her parents greeted as they took turns hugging her.

Hermione hesitantly returned their embraces. "I haven't kept you waiting too long have I?" she asked, looking around the group.

Theo shook his head. "We came down for breakfast but Mum and Dad decided we're eating out this morning," he explained as he held the door open for her.

The whole group ate breakfast out before going to the local hardware store to search for paints. After that it was off to the furniture store where Theodore paid to have a desk, shelves and a couch delivered for Hermione's room and a larger bed and shelves for Harry's. They were home before lunch.

It was a good thing too, as Hermione had to go to a Healer appointment just after lunch. She looked mournfully at her plastic covered bedroom as she entered the hall.

"What's wrong?" Blaise asked as he walked with her down the stairs.

"I hate painting," she told him with a wrinkle in her nose. "I suppose it will be slightly easier without Sirius here but it's still a hassle. I just wish it were done so that I can start moving things in."

"Why would it be easier without Sirius?" Blaise asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You weren't here for the sticky rice story were you?" she asked, laughing.

"No, I don't think-"

"Hermione, love, are you almost ready?" Theodore called just as she and Blaise entered the front room where he was waiting.

"Yes, dad," she replied with a smile before turning to Blaise. "Ask Harry about it," she told him with a wink before she and Theodore left.

Hermione and Theodore were both exhausted when they walked in the door. It had been a particularly grueling session where they were both forced to face their feelings of anger, doubt, regret, and sorrow toward each other, the Grangers, the rest of their family and life in general.

She'd had no idea that her abduction had nearly destroyed her parents' marriage. The only reason that they made it through the first few years was because divorce isn't legal in the wizarding world. They'd lived together but separately until Theo had an accident while trying to fly his father's broom unsupervised when he was five. He spent almost a month in St. Mungo's and they were force to spend time together there. When he'd finally woken up after three weeks he begged his parents to stop fighting and to please share a room like the other mums and dads that he knew. It had been hard at first but after only a few months they were in counseling together and working on their relationship. They had made it without either of them once being unfaithful which is something Hermione knew not many married couples in the wizarding world with fewer hardship was able to say.

Theodore heard for the first time the neglect and emotional abuse his baby girl had suffered at the hands of her abductors. They'd never laid a finger on her but that also meant they never hugged her or comforted her when she cried. They forced her to take lessons in dance, violin, piano, figure skating and numerous other 'girlie' things that she never had any interest or talent in then made sure she'd known how embarrassed and disappointed they were when she failed. She couldn't remember a time before meeting Harry during her first year at Hogwarts that she felt unconditionally loved or even loved at all. It broke his heart to think that his daughter had a childhood so similar to his own and the exact opposite of how he swore he'd raise his children. Yes, he and Kathy may have had their problems but they both made sure that Theo knew they both loved him no matter what. Despite their issues and pain he'd had a somewhat normal and even happy childhood. Their daughter had deserved the same. He swore to himself that day that she would know how much he and Kathy loved her and supported her no matter what she did.

They were both completely emotionally drained by the time they made it home. They'd eaten dinner out in diagon alley where Theodore had performed glamour charms on both of them to make sure the Prophet didn't harass her. And now they were home and Hermione turned to give her father a hug before dragging her tired body upstairs to her room.

"I love you," he whispered to her before releasing her.

She only looked at him with a mixture of sadness and confusion in her eyes.

"Goodnight," Theodore told her before leaving the room. He didn't want her to feel pressured into returning his feelings. He only hoped that they would come in time.

Hermione smelled paint as she climbed the stairs. When she reached the second floor it got stronger. She assumed that Harry had painted his room while she was out but his door was open when and she could see that his walls were the same beige as when she left.

With a shrug she turned toward her own room. Blaise walked out of her door with light blue speckles all over his face arms and hair just as she turned the knob. Theo was close behind.

"You're sleeping in Harry's room tonight," Blaise told her simply.

"Why?"

"Well you can't very well sleep in there with all the fumes can you?" Theo answered.

"You painted my room?" she asked as a smile grew on her face.

Blaise shrugged. "You said you didn't want to do it so we did it for you."

"Really?"

They both nodded.

"Thank you so much," she almost squealed as she threw her arms around them.

"It's not that big of a deal, 'Mione," Theo replied with a chuckle as he pulled away. Blaise got the feeling his best friend really had no idea just how big of a deal it was for someone to do something nice for his sister without expecting anything in return. He frowned.

"We put your pajamas in Harry's room along with a change of clothes for tomorrow," Blaise told her through a yawn. "I'll see you in the morning." He finally released her long after Theo.

"Goodnight," she replied as both boys disappeared into their own rooms.

a/n: I'm sorry if my portrayal of Ron upset anyone. I didn't mean for him to be rude or to bash him. I just wanted an accurate portrayal of the speak-before-he-thinks-and-sticks-his-foot-in-his-mouth Ron. He's not trying to be mean to Hermione he's just oblivious. Anyway on with the story while I prepare for my last day at this job Enjoy & review! Today is already a good day but you have the power to make it great!


	17. Chapter 17

Blaise and Hermione grew closer over the following weeks. She also got much closer with her family. Avoiding the publicity of being a war hero was surprisingly easy at the Nott home, mostly because no one expected her to be there. Though she knew it would eventually get out who she really was for now, no one knew. They went looking for her at the usual places—the Burrow, the Lovegoods house, and even Neville's gran's home—but no one knew about Nott Manor or Grimmauld Place. The latter of which was becoming a sort of hideout for the Weasleys, Lovegoods and Longbottoms.

Hermione was happy to visit sometimes but spent the majority of her time at home with her own family. She enjoyed the privacy it allowed her. She was started to build a closer relationship with her twin, who to her delight she discovered had read almost as many books as she had and could carry on an intellectual conversation better than most Ravenclaws.

Her father had been more open about his feelings of love than any man she'd ever seen, especially since their therapy appointment when he learned about her life with the Grangers. Her mother was a mother. That was really the only way to describe her. She doted over Hermione, Theo, Blaise and Harry. She was like a more organized and less stressed version of Mrs. Weasley which did a lot to make Hermione feel welcome.

Hermione's nightmares were almost completely gone by now and when she did wake up crying in the night she had someone to talk to the following morning. She spoke to Blaise about nearly everything. He just always seemed to be around. Not around in the overbearing protective way she'd grown accustomed to in the Weasley home either. He was perfectly content to sit quietly and read until she was ready to talk. He didn't feel a need to fill the silence with nonsense. Blaise was comfortable. Blaise also turned out to be a lot like her which she realized after walking in on him playing air guitar on his bed a few times.

Things seemed to be falling into place in her new home. And this morning they were going on their first outing as a family in the wizarding world. Of course, that outing was to take place in Bulgaria but the Potter/Granger/Weasley/Longbottom/Lovegood fame had already taken over most of Europe so there was concern for recognition. That was what weighed heaviest on Hermione's mind as she, Harry, and Blaise stepped into the floo and called out Viktor's address. The rest of the family would follow just after.

Viktor had arranged for an escort safely to taken them to the pitch and help them find the luxury box he'd had reserved for them. He would already be preparing, of course, so they wouldn't actually see their host until after the game.

Hermione was nervous of being recognized with the Notts and having her story told to the world. Even more she was nervous of losing that little piece of privacy that also provided her with peace of mind. Blaise squeezed her hand as a subtle reminder to her to take a breath as they stepped out of the floo and into Viktor's very large living room.

Blaise was nervous as well but for an entirely different reason. He'd very much enjoyed getting to know Hermione better over the past few weeks. The day after she'd come home to a newly painted pale blue bedroom he'd helped her move her new furniture in while her family went to their various healer and counseling appointments. She'd made them a very simple dinner of grilled cheese and tomato soup and together the two of them sat in her room and waited to see if the sunset would have its desired effect on her new walls. It turned out perfect, just the way that she'd hoped, and the celebrated with ice cream.

A few days later she'd woken up from a nightmare and went to the loo to splash some cold water on her face. He'd woken up at about the same time to use the toilet and she bumped into him on his way back to his room. Seeing that she was shaken, Blaise escorted Hermione back to her room and they talked until she was calm again, and so tired she fell asleep right there on the couch. He levitated her to her bed before leaving the room.

Though they'd grown increasingly close over the past few weeks, he couldn't find the right time to tell her of his feelings. He'd promised Harry and Theo, then later Theodore and Sirius that he'd wait until she was doing better to reveal how he felt about her. They all agreed that she needed to focus on getting better herself before he put any extra emotions in her way. It was only a few days ago that he'd gotten the green light from everyone involved to tell her how he felt but he wanted to do it right. He wanted it to be perfect because Hermione deserved perfect. It was obvious to anyone who bothered to pay attention when he was around her. The problem was that it wasn't obvious to her. She thought he was just being friendly.

But Blaise didn't simply want to be Hermione's friend anymore. He wanted more. He could wait if she wasn't ready for more yet but he needed to know they were heading in the direction of more. His problem now was Viktor Krum.

In the past few weeks Viktor had been writing to Hermione every day. He apparently was more clear with his intentions than Blaise was because just last night Hermione had told Blaise that Viktor was hoping that the two of them would get back together. He wanted her to choose a field that she could train for in Romania after graduating from Hogwarts in just under a year. He was talking about the future and even made allusions toward marriage and children. It all made Hermione very anxious. Blaise could tell that it wasn't the future she could see for herself but he could also tell that she was worried that no one else would feel that way about her.

Blaise was worried that she would settle but he was also worried that he would miss his chance. He didn't enjoy the game at all, not that there was much to enjoy. It started only five minutes after they were shown to their seats and Viktor ended it by catching the golden snitch within fifteen minutes. The other team hadn't even had a chance to score before the whole group was once again being escorted away from the pitch.

Viktor had arranged dinner for them all at a local restaurant in the wizarding district. Blaise sat across from Hermione and watched as she kept her head low and waited with Harry on her right and an empty seat on her left. He knew the reason for her low shoulders and hung head. It was fairly obvious to anyone and everyone in the building. There were whispers. A lot of whispers. Apparently Viktor had chosen a restaurant that was popular with quidditch fans, especially female quidditch fans. Hermione, however, was not popular with female quidditch fans. At least not female quidditch fans in Bulgaria. There were nasty whispers, that weren't actually whispers and with each mean-spirited comment 'whispered' near Hermione's ear, her head hung lower.

Finally after an hour of waiting Viktor showed up, signing autographs and taking picture all the way to their table where he threw an arm around Hermione's shoulder and proceeded to slouch back in his chair pulling her close as he did so. No one seemed impressed. Hermione looked incredibly uncomfortable as they ate in near silence. The only person to do much talking was Viktor himself and only about himself.

"Actually I think I'd be pretty disappointed if I had actually paid for tickets to that game," Sirius finally told him, getting upset with the younger man's egocentric behavior. "It wasn't much of a show was it?"

Viktor simply laughed as he threw back another drink. Just then a group of women in their early twenties passed the table right behind Hermione and the next thing anyone knew she was soaked by the women's drinks.

"That's it," she finally stated, slamming her hands on the table as she stood. "This is bloody ridiculous," she yelled, rounding on the women. "You want him? He's yours. He's far too self-centered and egotistical for me anymore. What happened to you anyway?" she asked turning back to Viktor. "You used to be so sweet and caring. Now you're a pig!"

"Maybe I feel a little threatened," he yelled back. "All you've written about for the past two weeks is 'Blaise this and Blaise that.' You can't seem to shut up about this Blaise bloke and you brought him with you today as well. I don't even see what's so great about that skinny half-blood anyway."

"Maybe it's because this skinny half-blood treats her and her family with respect," Blaise retorted, pushing his chair over in his hurry to stand. "I wouldn't laugh when some little chits throw their drinks on her or try to pressure her into leaving her home to move to bloody Bulgaria as soon as she graduates. Maybe I'm a real friend to her. Did that thought ever cross your thick head? Maybe I really love her and somewhere deep down, she knows that!"

Hermione looked ready to cry from the discomfort of having an entire restaurant full of eyes on her. Seeing this Sirius took her hand and they disapparated with a loud pop.

a/n: Okay so I tried to quit last night but they asked me to stay for today too. So I did. So I didn't have time to update till after work. Here is your update. I'm going to ice my knees and pass out now. Waking up to reviews would be grand!


	18. Chapter 18

"Where is she?" Theodore asked as soon as he arrived home with Theo and Blaise. Neither of them had taken their tests to apparate on their own even though they were both of age.

"She let me in then turned around and walked off," Sirius explained. "I asked if she wanted company and she just waved me off and kept going.

Kathy and Harry had arrived by now. "Bloody git," Harry seemed to me muttering repeatedly under his breath.

"He's been like this since she left," Kathy explained. "Where's Hermione?"

"Went for a walk," Theodore explained.

"Should we look for her?"

"She probably wants to be alone," Theo replied. He'd gotten to know his twin quite well in the past few weeks and knew that when she acted the way Sirius described she wanted time alone to cool off. "Give her a while and if she's not back we'll go look," he continued gesturing to Blaise.

Harry's utterances were becoming more and more vulgar by the moment.

"I should probably get him home," Sirius said by way of an apology, explanation, and farewell greeting all in one.

When dinner time rolled around Hermione still hadn't returned. Her parents didn't want to eat without her though they doubted the girl had much of an appetite at the moment. As promised, Theo and Blaise formed a search party.

"I'll take the woods, you take the garden?" Blaise suggested already having some idea as to where Hermione was hiding.

Theo nodded and they set out in different directions.

Blaise took deliberate steps into what he knew to be the thickest part of woods near the house. Once he was so surrounded by trees he could no longer see the sky he looked up. Sure enough, he could see the heel of a shoe sticking out through the canopy not far ahead. He walked directly under the heel and there she was sitting in a tree. She was looking up and didn't even seem to notice that he was below her. He did something he hadn't done for a very long time then. He attempted to climb the tree. He didn't think it would be hard as he and Theo used to have a tree fort in this very tree and there were still some ladder rungs nailed into the trunk.

They were rotten however and after he climbed about five feet he fell to the ground with a loud thud alerting Hermione that she had company as she sat swinging her feet balanced perfectly on a branch.

"Oh, Blaise," she gasped with wide eyes as she saw him sprawled out on the ground. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," he groaned as he stood and started dusting himself off. "But like I said before I'm a dreadful climber. Want to join me down-" He quit speaking as his feet left the ground.

"Just grab that branch above us and take a step into the fort," she told him when they were eye level.

He followed instructions well and she tucked her wand securely away in her pocket.

"Come sit with me?" Blaise asked once he was tucked securely into the corner of the fort.

Hermione stood on the branch without holding onto anything with her hands and walked toward him as though she were on a balance beam. She smiled when her feet touched the floor of the fort and got down on her knees to crawl to the corner and sit tucked securely under his right arm.

"You alright?" he whispered as he held her unnaturally close, but it felt so natural to him to have her so close.

She shrugged. "Fine. Wish lunch could've gone better, though. I don't know when Viktor got to be such a jerk."

"He's always been a jerk," Blaise corrected.

"You weren't even at school-"

"His dad dated my mum for a while a few years back. It was just as Viktor was starting to become famous for quidditch. The year before the tournament. They dated until around the beginning of your fifth year."

"That's how he knew about you blood status?" Hermione asked as she relaxed into his side.

Blaise nodded. She couldn't see it but she could feel it. "It's how he knew about a lot of stuff," he replied.

"Such as?"

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Now or never. "You."

"Me?"

"He knew how I felt about you. I made the mistake of telling him once when we were supposed to be bonding."

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked. "He knew that you kissed me on a dare when we were twelve?"

"He knew that the only way I'd ever have the nerve to kiss you was if I was dared," Blaise corrected. "He knew that I was completely enamored with you since the first time we spoke on the Hogwarts Express and that I hated that I hadn't had the nerve to attempt to keep in touch with you after my mum pulled me out of school and that I dreamed about you and missed you and had some Ravenclaw blokes update me on you regularly."

Hermione had pulled away from him while he was talking. He didn't know what to expect until he opened his eyes and saw her watching him with a bewildered look on her face. "You…liked me?" she finally asked.

"I loved you," he corrected. "No, even that's not right. I love you! It's not past tense at all. I loved you then for your kindness and strength and courage and how you challenged me to be better even without knowing it. And I still love you for all of those things now plus your talent and adventurousness and the way that you dance around the room singing and how you climb trees when you're upset and I…I just love you."

He expected her to run away or at least to jump out of the tree and go inside but she didn't. Instead she returned to her position leaning relaxed into his side, this time with both of her arms wrapped securely around his waist. "I…thank you," she finally replied.

It was a blow to his ego that was for sure. He'd just confessed his love to her and she only said thank you. But he was too busy focusing on the fact that she hadn't run off screaming to be too hurt by her reaction. He knew it would take time for her to love him. She didn't even tell Harry or Sirius that she loved them and she so obviously did. He could wait. As long as she was waiting with him, he'd wait.

"Is there a reason you came looking for me?" she finally asked at least twenty minutes later.

"Oh, shite," he groaned. "Your mum and dad asked Theo and I to find you for dinner."

Hermione simply laughed as she pushed off of him and stood. "I guess we should go then."

"Guess so," he replied.

Hermione shimmied down the tree trunk before levitating Blaise back to the ground. They walked in silence with both of their wands illuminated. It only took a few steps for Blaise's courage to show up and him to reach his hand out to take hers. She looked at him and smiled as they continued toward the house, dropping their hands once they were in sight.

a/n: Off to a fun day at the beach before I start the new job! Enjoyed the chapter? Then REVIEW! And I'll post more tomorrow!


	19. Chapter 19

"So, uh, what was that I saw before dinner last night?" Theo asked his sister the following morning. Blaise was gone for the morning at his own healer appointment to discuss his mummy issues so Hermione and Theo made plans to go to muggle London together for breakfast.

They flooed to the Leaky Cauldron separately. Theo went first and exited into muggle London. Hermione followed ten minutes later and went into Diagon Alley before apparating to a pre-determined meeting place. Much to their irritation it didn't cross either of their minds to have Hermione apparate them both into muggle London or even for him to floo and her to apparate.

"I have no idea what it was that you saw before dinner last night. I didn't see you between leaving Bulgaria and sitting down at the dinner table," Hermione reminded him, though she had some idea of what he was talking about.

"You and Blaise were holding hands in the yard," he teased.

"Did Mum and Dad see too?"

"No. I only saw because I was just getting inside they were already waiting at the table for you. They know though."

"You told them?" she asked, shocked. "Gossip!"

Theo laughed. "I meant that they know how he feels about you."

Hermione blushed.

"He talked to Dad about it a while ago, asked permission to ask you out. He didn't want it to be an issue since he basically lives with us."

She continued to blush. "He hasn't though," she told him. "Asked me out that is. He told me that he likes me but he never…"

"He was in shock," Theo laughed. "Blaise has liked you for a long time. He never thought he'd be able to tell you and last night he told me he was so excited that you didn't run away screaming he completely forgot to ask you on a date. He will soon." Theo paid and looked at his watch. "Do you want to look around the shops for a while? It's still early. No one will be back yet. Unless you want to go see Harry and Sirius?"

"There's this great music store nearby," she suggested with a smile as they linked arms and made their way down the sidewalk.

They must have looked like a very strange pair as they walked because they got many odd looks. Hermione figured that's what it had to do with too. Looks. She was in a pair of faded and torn straight leg jeans that fit loose around her legs and one of Sirius's old faded band tee-shirts that had been washed so many times you couldn't make out the writing any longer while Theo wore a pair of perfectly fitted slacks and a pale blue polo shirt. She was the one getting strange looks on the street. He was the one getting the strange looks in the store.

Theo went straight to a rack of used records and new cds. Hermione watched as her brother put the headphones on and pushed play. Theo immediately started jumping around singing loudly along with the music as his sister fell to the floor laughing. He picked her up by the hands and danced around her, singing "Mione is a punk rocker! Mione is a punk rocker! Mione is a punk rocker now-ow-ow-ow!"

"I didn't know you listened to the Ramones," she gasped out, laughing as Theo took the headphones off, straightened his clothes and continued to browse.

"Dad's favorite," he shrugged. "I know every song."

"Interesting show you put on there. Who's Mione?" the store clerk asked when the pair took their purchases to the counter.

"This lovely lady right here," Theo explained gesturing to Hermione in a very Vanna White way. "My twin sister. It's Hermione actually."

The clerk only nodded as he handed them their bags.

"Hermione, is it?" a woman asked from behind them.

Hermione could barely breathe as she turned wide eyed at the woman and her husband.

"Such a lovely name should be given to a proper young lady. Not a heathen who dresses like a slob in public. A Hermione should be educated, maybe know ballet," the woman continued.

"I assure you," Theo replied with narrowed eyes and gritted teeth, "that my sister is an incredibly intelligent and talented young lady. Our parents happen to cherish each of us just the way that we are and encourage us to be ourselves." He took Hermione's hand and pulled her from the store and down the street in the direction of Grimmauld Place.

Once they arrived Hermione walked straight into the house, bypassed Harry, Sirius, Neville, and Ron and walked up to the third floor where she locked the door, sat on her bed and started to cry. Theo attempted to follow but she was too fast in closing the door behind her. Instead he went back downstairs and into the living room where the other men sat with curious looks.

"The music store a few streets from here," Theo began, "do you know how she knew about it?"

"I took her there a few weeks ago," Sirius explained, still looking confused.

"And she'd never been there before?"

"No," Harry answered.

"You're sure? Maybe with the Grangers?"

"They wouldn't go to a place like that."

"Yeah, well, they did," Theo replied. "We were just there. She took me after breakfast and they were there too."

Harry jumped from his chair and raced up the stairs. He pounded on her door and received a "Go away!" in response.

"I'm not leaving 'Mione!" he yelled back. "Let me in."

"No!"

"I'll kick the damn door down if I have to!" And he prepared himself to do just that but just as his foot should've collided with the door it opened causing him to tumble into the room and somersault across the floor. "Thanks for that," he grumbled as he stood dusting himself off.

"You said to let you in," she replied with a slight giggle.

"A little warning next time please."

She nodded.

"You alright?"

"No."

"What happened?"

"They said some things," she answered pulling her knees to her chest and burying her face in her folded arms. "Really mean things."

"Like?"

"They called her a heathen and a slob," Theo answered walking into the room with Sirius, Neville and Ron close behind him.

"Is that what they always thought of me?" she cried. "They only tolerated it then because they were stuck with me!"

"They're wrong, 'Mione," Neville soothed as he made his way closer to her and sat on the foot of her bed. "You're the smartest kindest person I know and if they couldn't see that then they never deserved you to begin with."

"They never did deserve her," Sirius replied. "She wasn't theirs to begin with and if they'd have just left her where she belonged she'd be happier."

"I'm really sorry for what I said at dinner a couple weeks ago 'Mione," Ron apologized awkwardly as he too sat on her bed. "I don't really think you're nutters and I shouldn't have made you feel bad like that."

"Um, Ron," Hermione replied looking up for the first time. "You never called me a nutter."

"Oh, really? I suppose I just thought it then." Ron shrugged.

Theo prepared himself to hit the jerk.

Hermione did something no one expected. She laughed. Then she grabbed a pillow from behind her and threw it in his face. "Can we go home?" she finally asked, looking at Theo. "I want to talk to Mum and Dad."

He nodded together they all walked to the floo in the library. Hermione said her goodbyes hugging her friends and Sirius.

"We need to spend some time together soon," Sirius suggested quietly as he squeezed her tightly. "Maybe dinner and a film?"

She nodded as she continued to hug him.

"I love you, 'Mione," he whispered before releasing her and allowing them to leave.

"Thank you," she whispered back.

a/n: Sorry for the delay. There will most likely be other delays between posts from now on as I start grad school tomorrow. But fear not, I will not abandon you. Keep reading, keep reviewing & I'll keep posting!


	20. Chapter 20

Blaise was sitting in the front room with Kathy and Theodore when Hermione and Theo stepped through the floo. "What's wrong?" he asked seeing the tear streaks on Hermione's cheeks.

She ignored him and ran straight to her parents hugging each of them tightly.

Theodore looked to his son for some type of explanation.

"Later," Theo mouthed to his father as Hermione went into the kitchen with their mother to start dinner.

"It's later," Theodore told his son once he was sure Hermione could no longer hear then.

"Your office?" Theo asked wanting to put more distance between them.

Theodore nodded and Theo and Blaise followed him from the room.

"We went to this music store in London after breakfast," Theo explained, handing a record to his father. "We were joking around…I was joking around…and singing to her and she was laughing and we were having fun. Then we went to pay and I mentioned her name to the clerk. And a woman behind us started insulting her. Saying she was a slob and a heathen and that with a name like Hermione she should be a proper young lady."

"And?" Blaise asked.

"It was Mrs. Granger," though told them with a heavy sigh. "She cried for a full hour at Grimmauld Place wondering if they ever loved her at all or if they just put up with her because they had too. We managed to cheer her up. Actually I don't think it was even us. She just suddenly asked if we could go home. She said she wanted to see you and Mum."

Theodore nodded and asked the boys to leave the room.

They did as they were told. They both knew what was coming next. Theodore never allowed them to see him when he was very angry. When he was ready to rage, he had them leave the room. It didn't happen often that Blaise could remember but Blaise didn't know about Hermione until a few weeks ago. It seemed every other day Theo was being sent out of the room after Voldemort had returned to power and before his defeat. Every time there was word of Hermione possibly being in danger he sent Theo away and silencioed the door.

"Mum asked me to leave the kitchen," Hermione told them when they saw her back in the front room. "I told her what happened today and she got terribly upset."

Theo nodded. "Dad doesn't like us to see him get angry," he explained. "Mum doesn't like us to see her cry."

"Oh," Hermione whispered as she looked down at her hands.

"It's not your fault Mione," Blaise reminded her. "We're going to fly. Want to come?"

She scoffed.

"Please," Blaise pleaded. Theo had already left the room to get their brooms from upstairs.

"I've only ever flown with Harry. You saw what happened in our first flying lesson."

He winced remembering the way she'd shot around as though her broom was hexed then fell fifteen feet to the hard ground. It was right after Madam Hooch returned from escorting Neville to the hospital wing. She wasn't impressed. "You can fly with me," he offered. "I'll stay low."

"How low?" she asked, looking interested.

"Twenty feet."

She shook her head.

"Fifteen."

"No."

"Ten?" he groaned. "But that's my final offer."

"No higher?" she asked. "Promise?"

"Promise," he sighed.

She smiled and extended her hand to shake. "Deal."

"Deal," he replied but instead of shaking her hand he took it in his and escorted her out the door where Theo was already waiting with both brooms.

He smiled and winked at them when he saw their joined hands.

"Mione's going to fly with me," Blaise informed him in a teasing voice.

"What?" he protested. "But I'm your brother!"

Hermione shrugged. "You didn't offer," she told him with a small smile as she mounted the broom behind Blaise.

"Hold on tight," Blaise told her when she placed her hands on his sides. "Tighter than that."

She wrapped her arms around his waist and he pushed off the ground. Hermione only flew with the boys for half an hour before she pleaded with Blaise to land and let her off. He did just as she asked and she went back inside. The boys didn't join her until dinner.

The table was quiet that night. No one wanted to bring up the day's events.

"I want to change my name," Hermione blurted as dessert was being served.

"Because of what she said?" Kathy asked already getting upset.

Hermione shook her head. "Not my first name," she replied between bites of pumpkin tart. "My…my last name. I…I want to be a Nott."

The room was silent.

"If…if that's al…alright," she continued in a small voice.

Kathy cried. Theodore looked close to tears himself. Theo and Blaise couldn't stop smiling.

"Of course it's alright dear," Kathy told her as she wiped her eyes. "Nothing would make us happier."

"We can go to the ministry first thing in the morning," Theodore suggested. "They already know of course but…" He trailed off with a content smile on his face.

a/n: Grad school=very hard & very boring. I recommend a job where it isn't required. I haven't forgotten you and will update when possible. But reviews still make me smile!


	21. Chapter 21

"The Prophet's editor is here," Theodore whispered to Hermione as the entire family entered the ministry the following morning. "Are you sure you want to do this today?"

With a deep breath Hermione nodded. "They're all going to find out eventually aren't they?" she asked. "Theo and I are returning to school in just under two months. Besides that Lavender knows and it's a miracle it's stayed a secret this long."

"No miracle," Theo corrected. "I heard Ginny threaten her with the bat bogey hex if she told anyone."

Hermione smiled to herself as they continued through the halls toward the records department.

"Well that didn't take them long," Theo groaned later that night. Reporters had staked out the Nott residence all afternoon so the family took refuge at Grimmauld Place. Theo threw the evening edition of the Daily Prophet down on the coffee table.

The headline read: Granger/Nott Union: Love for the War Heroes

Hermione blanched.

"Apparently the Prophet has no interest in the truth," Kathy groaned looking at her children.

"You did read that rubbish they were printing two years ago didn't you?" Sirius asked. "They haven't been concerned with the truth for a very long time."

"How would they even think that?" Blaise added. "Look at the bloody picture! It's so obvious that you two are related. I mean really, how could they not have figured it out years ago?"

"Because everyone at the Prophet it a bloody moron," Harry offered.

"And the records department handles all personal records: births, deaths, name changes and marriages," Hermione added.

"Well we'll have to set the record straight," Theodore sighed, exhausted from the day's events. "I'll owl the Prophet tomorrow."

Hermione shook her head. "The Quibbler," she insisted.

"Excuse me?" Kathy asked, obviously thinking of the insane stories her old schoolmate Xenophelius Lovegood was known for publishing previously.

"She's right," Harry insisted. "The Quibblers been readership has increased a lot since everyone found out that Luna's dad was the only person willing to tell the truth about Voldemort."

"It's more widely read and distributed than the Prophet now," Hermione continued. "And the reporting is more serious and credible since Luna took an active role."

Just then an owl flew through the room and dropped another paper on the coffee table. It unrolled on its own to reveal: SPECIAL EDITION: THE MANY LOVES OF HERMIONE GRANGER.

"You've got to be bloody kidding me!" Theo raged.

Hermione stomped up the stairs toward her room.

"I really should cancel my subscription," Sirius groaned.

"The Quibble it is," Theodore groaned.

"I'll floo Luna now," Harry offered.

Blaise took the paper and went into the library to see exactly what lies it was spreading this time. He was shocked to turn to page three and see a very large picture of him on holiday in Greece wearing nothing but his swim trunks as he ran on the beach. Under that was a smaller picture of him yelling at Viktor Krum in a Bulgarian restaurant.

_Zabini and Krum were once close to being brothers. Now they are competing over the same witch. In a loud argument in at Bulgarian restaurant last week Zabini stole Krum's witch. This was after Krum was kind enough to provide them both with tickets to a quidditch match. But the victory was short lived for Zabini as it now seems Granger has left him for his best mate Theodore Nott Jr._

Blaise glared at the paper, especially the picture of himself. Was he really that skinny? He decided to check on Hermione as he hadn't noticed anyone walking up the stairs to see her. He stuffed the paper in his back pocket as he left the room.

"You alright?" he asked as he pushed the cracked door open further.

Hermione hurriedly wiped tears from her cheeks. "Fine," she answered. "What's up?"

Blaise let out a heavy sigh as he moved further into the room. "You don't have to pretend with me, 'Mione," he told her. "I thought you'd figured that out by now." On his way to her he stopped to turn the music on—Pink Floyd—before throwing himself on her bed next to her.

She bounced with his impact and almost fell off the bed. It was only his strong arms around her small waist that saved her. In the process of being saved she saw the Prophet special edition sticking out of his back pocket and pulled it away from him.

"Are you sure you want to-"

"That's you?" she asked as she gawked at the picture from his holiday. "Like all that is really under all that?" she gestured to his clothes and they both blushed when she realized what she'd just asked.

"Yes, all my skin and bones," he brushed it aside.

"Um, no. Blaise, you have an amazing body," she whispered this time, feeling very insecure.

He blushed deeper. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Ye…" she trailed off reading the byline of the article. "Skeeter," she sneered.

"Wow you looked like a Nott just then," he laughed.

She jumped from the bed and ran down the stairs with Blaise hot on her heels. "Harry, I need-" She stopped suddenly. "Bullocks! You're not seventeen," she muttered under her breath before turning to her parents. "I have to go out for a while but first I have to go to the Burrow and pick up Ron." She didn't wait for a response before disappearing into the floo.

"What was all that about?" Harry asked.

"Dunno," Blaise shrugged. "She read the byline of the special edition, muttered something about Rita Skeeter then-"

Harry cut him off with his raucous laughter. "Never mind mate. That's all I needed to know."

a/n: Happy Monday! Here's another chapter for you. To those who keep asking if I'm putting Malfoy in this NO! If you're a fan of Malfoy and want to see him, TOO BAD. I don't feel like adding any more drama to this story than I already have and I don't think he's necessary. He'll only insult Hermione more. Also it is a pet peeve of mine when I write someone out of a story in the first few chapters and by chapter 20 people are still asking about him. I clearly said that ALL of the Malfoys ( and I believe Parkinsons but could be wrong) were in Azkaban. If it wasn't clear why it is because the final battle was held at their house and they had abducted 3 students: Neville, Luna, and Ginny. Also on the train I had Goyle (or was it Crabbe, don't know, don't care, they're interchangeable to me) alone and trying to insult Hermione, Harry and Theo. This is because many of his Slytherin friends have been arrested. Malfoy will not be in this story so please quit asking about/for him. It's not happening!


	22. Chapter 22

Hermione returned two hours later with a small black bag in her left hand and a smiling Ron with an arm flung over her shoulder.

"Mission accomplished," she told Harry with a wink.

"I'm starved," Ron blurted. "Have you eaten yet Sirius?"

Sirius led the way into the basement kitchen.

"I'm sorry but exactly what mission did you accomplish?" Theodore asked his daughter once they were all seated around the table.

"They caught Skeeter," Harry laughed as he began filling his plate.

"Well where is she then?" Theo asked.

Hermione picked the black bag up from its spot next to her on the table and gave it a little shake.

"In there?" Kathy exclaimed. "But how?"

"Unregistered animagus," Ron told the table through a mouthful of food. "We told her during the tournament that if she didn't stop writing rubbish we'd find her and turn her in."

"You mean _Hermione_ told her during the tournament that if she didn't stop writing rubbish _Hermione_ would find her and turn her in," Harry corrected.

"Same difference," Ron argued.

"Anyway, I think I'll leave her in here for a few days before I go back to the ministry," Hermione laughed.

"How do you plan on keeping her in a bag? And what is she?" Blaise asked.

"She's a beetle and she's in a jar."

"Unbreakable charm?" Sirius inquired.

"And silencio so that she can't eavesdrop. And I think I've managed to freeze her in her animagus form until I take that charm off too."

"You can do that?" Sirius asked with a worried expression.

"I did always think Sirius would make a good pet," Theodore laughed.

"I would piss on your carpets and eat your favorite shoes," Sirius warned.

"Lovely dinner conversation we always seem to have here isn't it," Hermione joked.

They all stayed at Grimmauld Place that night, except for Ron who returned to his own home, and were together the next morning when a special edition of the Quibbler arrived by owl.

HERMIONE NOTT'S TRAGIC HISTORY the headline read. They fought over who got to read it first until five more owls arrived each with a copy. Hermione was the last to wake up so she had to share with Blaise when she arrived downstairs.

_The Prophet is up to its old tricks again. Publishing lies about good wizards who deserve better. But fear not. As with many other stories, the Quibbler is here with the truth. The exclusive truth. _

_Those of you old enough to remember 1979 and 1980 couldn't possibly forget the story that ruled the headlines for a full year. Elizabeth Nott, daughter of Theodore and Katherine Nott and twin sister of Theodore Nott Jr. or Theo as he prefers to be called, was kidnapped on a family trip to muggle London._

_At first it was feared to be the work of dark witches and wizards, as at the time the young couple were adamant opposers of Lord Voldemort, but there was no evidence pointing to such a thing. That is when the wizarding world had to face a dark but likely truth. Young Elizabeth Nott was abducted by muggles at the age of three months._

_It tore her parents apart and even prompted them to change sides, losing the rest of their family and friends in the process. And life went on, but not as normal, until Theo's first year of Hogwarts where he met a Gryffindor muggle-born who shared many of his features. Same eye color. Same facial features and chestnut curls. "I felt an instant bond to Hermione," Theo tells the Quibbler, "but as a Slytherin I was afraid to tell anyone. I was afraid of them misunderstanding and of being punished."_

_So the Slytherin kept his feelings to himself until his fourth year of school when Hermione's face often graced the cover of the Daily Prophet with its scandalous stories about her love life and magical abilities. It was at that point that his parents recognized the witch as well. _

_Hermione Granger is none other than Elizabeth Nott, abducted and raised as a muggle until her eleventh birthday when she was told about Hogwarts and soon left to attend the school. She was informed of her past just over one month ago as she prepared to return home for the summer holiday. She would not be returning home, however. She would be living with her rightful family._

"_It was hard at first," Granger who only went to the Ministry yesterday to have her name legally changed back to Nott tells us, "But I think we're finding out groove and growing as a family. I feel an immense amount of support. They tell me that they love me every day and they accept me for exactly who I am. I feel very lucky to be reunited with them."_

_Those of you who know something about the Notts may know their connection to Harry Potter, better known as the-boy-who-lived. Katherine Nott is the twin sister of James Potter, Harry's father. When asked to comment on this topic Harry told us "I've always loved Hermione. She was like the family I never had and to find out that we are cousins was the most welcomed news I've ever received in my life. I'm enjoying getting to know my aunt, uncle, and cousin as well and feel very blessed to have their love and support."_

_Sirius Black, godfather of Harry Potter, cousin of Theodore Nott, and newly cleared ex-fugitive, also allowed a quote telling us "Hermione is my goddaughter. I knew it from the first time that I saw her. I could never tell her but I swore to myself then and there that I'd do everything in my power to protect her the same as I would for Theo or Harry. I'm just glad to see her home, to see my cousin happy again and to be able to support my entire family through this. They're all that I have left."_

_You may be asking how no one a Hogwarts knew the truth. The magic quill is supposed to know these things, correct? There's a simple answer to that._

"_We knew from the moment she was sent her letter," Deputy Headmistress and Hermione's Head of House, Minerva McGonagall, told this reporter. "We were worried for her safety being raised as a muggle but actually being the daughter of a family that had crossed over to supporting Voldemort. When the Notts realized who she was and came to us during her fourth year to tell us of their suspicions they agreed with our decision and decided that she shouldn't know until the war is over."_

_When asked for a quote on this issue Katherine Nott said, "I'm just happy to have her home. We have a lot of work to do to be a family but we're all committed to making this work."_

_Theodore added, "I'm just happy to have my baby girl back."_

_The Notts have asked that we all respect their privacy in order to make this transition easier on everyone. And this reporter, who is lucky enough to consider the Nott/Potter/Black clan to be close and personal friends, plans to respect their wishes fully and encourages the rest of the wizarding world to do the same. _

_Always remember, Quibbler first for the real truth._

_Story by Luna Lovegood_

Hermione, being the last to enter the room, was last to finish reading as well. Everyone else had gone to breakfast by then except for Blaise who sat contently with her head leaning on his shoulder as she read.

"Brilliant idea asking Luna to print the story," Blaise finally told her as he noticed her eyes stop scanning the page.

She looked up at him and smiled before blushing. "Sorry," she muttered pulling away from him slightly.

"What for?" he asked, backing away himself.

"Laying on you as I read," she replied, standing and heading toward the basement stairs.

Blaise stood as well and grabbed her hand to stop her before she got too far away. "I don't mind," he told her with a slight blush himself. "Um…I was wondering. I mean I know I told you all that stuff a few days ago and…"

Her face fell. "We…we can just forget it ever happened if that's what you want."

"NO!" he practically yelled. "I mean…I mean, no, I don't want to forget it ever happened. What I was trying to say was that I know I said all of that stuff but didn't act on it. I didn't mean to confuse you or hurt your feelings by it but I well…I was in shock. I wanted to ask you to dinner the following night but then all that stuff happened with the Grangers and then the Prophet and… What I mean to say is: Would you like to go to dinner with me tomorrow night?"

"Really?" she asked. "Like a date?"

"Well I was hoping so, yes."

"I would love to."

a/n: I am so so so so so so sorry….but it will be a long time before I can update again. With grad school, 2 jobs and bridesmaid's duties, I barely have time to sleep much less write. But I swear I haven't forgotten or given this up. I'm in the process of writing the next chapter to my other fic-in-progress "Secret's Left Behind" as well. Look for that tomorrow of Tuesday. And read some of my other fics if you haven't already. But read slow if you want them to hold you over between updates. As always THANK YOU FOR READING (and your patience!) AND PLEASE REVIEW!


	23. Chapter 23

Hermione pulled off the dress she was wearing and reached for the seventh option that Ginny was holding out for her. "Green, Gin?" she asked as she pulled the dress over her head and proceeded to smooth the front with her hands. "You really think?" It was just green, no pattern, no adornments, just green, cap sleeved, sweetheart neck line, a slight flare to the skirt which fell just a few inches above the knee.

"The color makes your eyes stand out," Ginny explain, excitement in her voice. "But more importantly, what do you think? And take your arms away from your stomach. Quit hiding yourself!"

Hermione did as she was told and dropped her arms to her side before turning to the mirror. "I think I like it. I guess I like it."

"I think you look beautiful in it!" Ginny confirmed. "Now for hair." Ginny advanced on her with a bottle of Sleekeazy.

~Nott a Granger~

Blaise was spending just as much time primping to prepair for the date. He chose his favorite dark jeans but had changed the button down shirt of choice more than ten times.

"Look," Theo groaned, "I get you want everything to be perfect and all but do you really think it matters if you wear the black shirt with the grey pinstripes of the black shirt with the silver pinstripes?"

"Shut it!" Blaise countered as he threw the shirt he was wearing on the bed.

Theo, ever the clean freak, gave the shirt one quick shake before putting it on a hanger and levitating it to the closet. "I will not! It's a valid question. She's seen you first thing in the morning, in sweats and a stained tee-shirt with your hair all messed up from sleeping and rancid morning breath. If she's still willing to give you a chance after all that do you think she's going to care if the pinstripes are grey or silver?"

"Fine," Blaise surrendered and settled for the current option of black with green pinstripes. "I just," he started as he sat on the bed to pull on his shoes, "I never thought I'd have a chance with her and now that she's agreed to dinner with me, I don't want to blow it! She's...she's..."

"My sister so pick your next words carefully," Theo warned.

"You know all that time you were secretly obsessing over her being your sister and wanting to be able to tell her and to have her in your life?"

Theo nodded.

"Well the whole time you had that secret, I had the secret of being in love with her and wanting to be able to tell her and have her in my life, too."

"We were eleven."

"I know."

"You think you met the woman of your dreams when you were eleven?"

"That's when your mum and dad met," Blaise pointed out.

Theo opened his mouth to speak but closed it again quickly and gave his friend a strange look.

"Well, I'm going to get going," Blaise informed him.

"Where? I thought you weren't meeting for another half hour."

"We're not. I ordered flowers from that small shop in the village. I've got to pick them up."

~Nott a Granger~

Hermione took a deep steadying breath as she stepped out of her bedroom.

She heard a wolf whistle from down the hall and looked up to see Harry and Theo talking at the end of the hall.

"Shut up, Harry," she warned.

"You look beautiful, 'Mione," he complimented.

"Thank you," she blushed. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Sirius wanted to come by and put the fear of, well, the fear of Sirius in him with your dad. Also Theo and I are going flying tonight while you're out. Thought it would be a perfect time for us cousins to bond. Is Ginny still here?"

Hermione shook her head. "She left ten minutes ago. She and Luna are having a girl's night. Where's Blaise?"

"He's gone to town for a moment. He'll be picking you up at the door," Theo told her. "A proper date. Thus dad and Sirius are waiting for him downstairs."

"Bloody hell," Hermione groaned as she headed toward the stairs.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Theo asked.

"To meet Blaise."

"Not without us," Harry laughed.

"Oh, no," she groaned, remember how he, Ron, Fred and George had acted when Viktor came to the portrait hole to pick her up for the Yule Ball.

"Just be thankful the Weasley aren't here," Harry teased.

"Oh you mean Mr. Weasley and the rest of them weren't invited to see if they could make this evening a little more uncomfortable?" she teased back as the three of them headed downstairs together.

"Arthur had to work late at the Ministry," Sirius announced, "and the twins had a mishap with an experiment at the shop."

"And Ron's got a date with Lav-Lav," Theo added.

"They didn't really invite the Weasley's did they?" Hermione whispered to Harry.

He nodded and tried to hold back a snicker as he replied, "It's all in fun."

Just then Blaise walked through the door with a boquet of lilies in his hand. "Uh, hullo," he greeted the roomful of men.

"Have a seat, Blaise," Theodore insisted in a somewhat threatening tone.

~Nott a Granger~

"Well, that was..." Blaise started.

"Torture?" Hermione offered.

He thought about it a moment. "Yes, torture's a fair description."

They were walking down Diagon Alley hand-in-hand toward their dinner reservation.

"You know we're not going to get any peace in the wizarding world right?" he asked as the tenth person passed openly staring since they stepped out of the floo in the Leaky Cauldron three minutes earlier. "We could go to a muggle restaurant."

She shook her head. He did have a point of course. They'd had to postpone their dinner date by a week because they couldn't even walk out the front door thanks to reporters. Theodore only just gotten gotten an order of protection from the Ministry the day before making it comfortable and safe for the family to return home. "I don't want to risk running into the Grangers again. Besides, the longer we stay hidden, the longer they'll stay interested. If we give them a little of what they want, they'll eventually grow tired of it an move on."

"I hope you're right," Blaise commented.

"If it makes you uncomfortable-"

He shook his head. "I'm not uncomfortable. I just want to make sure you're not uncomfortable." He held the door open for her as they reached the restaurant.

They were seated immediately thanks to the vast fortune of the Zabinis and the influence of the Notts. Once seated the intrusive eyes and whispers calmed greatly. They were only interrupted once by an elderly witch who came to Hermione crying. "Elizabeth Nicole Nott," she whispered in a shocked tone through her tears. "I just...I'm sorry. I don't mean to be intrusive. I'm just so happy to see you back where you belong. I was a friend of your grandmother. I just wish James had lived long enough to see you come home."

She left again without even telling them her name.

After dinner, they stopped at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour for dessert before returning home. Florean himself waited on them giving them both free sundaes. "A welcome home gift," he told Hermione as he set them on the table.

"Seems a lot of people were waiting for your return," Blaise told her with a small laugh.

She blushed.

They spent an hour talking before Blaise checked his watch and jumped up. "We're going to be late. Your dad will kill me if we're late."

Hermione laughed but stood as well, taking his hand. "I'll apparate us. We'll be back before curfew."

He pulled her to a deserted alley way receiving a confused look from his companion. "Just one more thing before we go," he told her. He leaned in slowly and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Now we can go."


End file.
